Wait, what aisle is that in?
Senators 3 Leafs 2: Hal Gill happens. Did you see Leafs goalie Andrew Raycroft flick the puck away in disgust at the end of regulation, still in disbelief that the Senators had tied the game with 2:06 left after a series of defensive zone blunders gave Chris Kelly a gift tying goal?
Not to spit in the Sens' eye, but it's obligatory to call B.S. on any smoke-blowing about Kelly having a hand in all three Ottawa goals in his second game as the fill-in No. 1 centre on the Dany Heatley-Daniel Alfredsson line. Any NHL player should be able to score when he gets a gift like the one the Leafs contrived to provide on the equalizer. First Gill couldn't negotiate the simple act of clearing the puck past his own blueline, then three of his teammates decided to check Brian McGrattan in the corner. Not to impugn the great playmaking skills of Brian McGrattan, but two Leafs should have been sufficient to check the Ottawa fourth-line. Gill, apropos of nothing, decided to check Peter Schaefer standing behind the net instead of Kelly skating to the front of it.
Are injuries really any excuse for a breakdown that you don't see in bantam AAA hockey? Actually, we could have a great discussion about the value inherent in unstructured play, but the Leafs lost, so that's out.
Anyway, Kelly was left alone to set up base camp on the lip of the crease and bang the tying goal past Raycroft, sparking the Senators to an overtime win that while no doubt well-deserved, they had much less claim to than the Leafs did. This was about 60% the Leafs blowing it and failing to get a two-goal lead against the Sens and Ray Emery (despite outshooting Ottawa 33-19 in the first two periods) and 40% Ottawa just hanging in there and hoping they'd be let off the hook. Which they were.
In other words, this was the perfect game to watch when you come down to visit your folks, since watching the Leafs kick away a win does have a certain nostalgia kick.
Note to readers: I'm on a holiday break until Jan. 4 (which happens to be one of those certain round number birthdays that we do not mention by name), so posting will likely be lighter till mid-week.
NHL Scoreboard
That's all for now. Have a happy New Year's Eve. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
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2 comments:
Neate.You forgot to mention that the Ottawa Senators have taken a commanding 4-1 lead in this season's Battle of Ontario. Congratulations Senators! It is a big deal this season , as it is the only battle either of these mediocre teams is likely to win.
You're right, and I'm not gonna be a smart aleck about it and say one person's "forgot" is another's "selective memory."
Good on the Sens. As a Leafs fan, although this was the first close loss they've had to Ottawa (the others were 4-1,6-2 and 7-2, I believe), this sucks out loud.
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