Ottawa Senators

If the Sens want to emerge from their battle with the Bruins without getting mauled, it will come down to two key factors:

1. Control the play: Boston is not a particularly dynamic team in terms of offense, but they are an excellent defensive team, employing a sound and effective counter-attack system.  Add to this some outstanding goal-tending, and if you do not put the Bruins on their heels, they'll likely beat you by a combination of neutral-zone frustration, opportunistic scoring and stellar goal-tending.  Boston is an excellent systems team, and to beat them you have to force them to play outside of their comfort zone.
2. Special Teams: As a part of Boston's opportunistic offense, the power play factors large.  Ottawa must play a solid puck-possession game, limit the need to take defensive penalties and above all else not take foolish or selfish penalties.  If you find yourself in the box versus Boston, not only will you likely pay the price in goals against, but you'll be dwindling away much-needed offensive opportunities against a stingy team.

Elliott will get the start, and another opportunity to solidify his growing confidence in the net.

Spezza will draw in after missing four games due to a groin strain, but Michalek will miss the game due to tendinitis. 

This will force Clouston to shake up the lines, but thanks to a depth of forwards able to play anywhere up front, a previous log jam at centre with the return of Spezza will be resolved by moving Regin to the wing to play alongside Spezza and Kovalev (a new combination) and have Fisher centre Foligno and Alfredsson.

According to the standings and recent history between the two clubs, Ottawa will be in a tough position to post a win tonight, but with the right combination of strong play, and discipline, the Sens have good reason to expect a win.

It seems the secret to winning, if you’re the Ottawa Senators, is to play a team nicknamed after an animal.

Well, as luck would have it, tonight the Sens take on the Bruins.

Buy your pro-line tickets folks, this one's a lock!

If only.

The fact is, for the Senators, tonight's match-up holds several interesting motivations to win.

1. It’s a home game, which should always result in a win.
2. It would represent the third win in a row, a significant statement for a team so awful out of the gate.
3. The 2 pts. would put the Sens at .500 for the season, making for a virtual re-start, allowing the team to climb out of the hole they dug themselves into.
4. Boston is a divisional rival.
5. Boston is among the top tier teams the Sens hoped to be competing with for tops in the NE, making this both a statement game and a four pointer.

The fact is, no matter what happens tonight, the Sens have at least looked better over the past stretch of games, with the obvious exception against Montreal.

That at least gives hope where, for some, there was none.

In the match versus the Panthers—albeit not a powerhouse team—the Sens looked dominant, and focused upon winning.

Most importantly, when they got down early, after controlling the play to that point in the game, they didn’t respond to the adversity by falling back into their passive game.  Instead, they continued to do what was working for them everywhere, but on the score sheet.

Eventually, as it always does, the smart/hard play paid off, netting three goals in the 2nd period to take a strong two goal lead.

To me, at this point, with the lead, it becomes the most critical part of the game, more important than the single win or loss that could result.

Would the Senators continue to play as they did before gaining the lead, or would they once again allow themselves to become focused on not losing?

A confident team would stick to the plan, and try to build on the lead.

A tentative team would back off, attempting to play out the clock, attempting to maintain the win.

In the former, teams win more often than not, and continue to improve their system, by remaining consistent in its execution.

In the latter, teams, at best, go 60/40, winning more than they lose, but never get any sort of rhythm going, and always remain psychologically fragile, as would anyone focused on “not losing.”

The Sens chose to stick to the game plan, widened their lead, and except for a terrible play from Phillips, and a blown call from the ref (Els had the puck covered on the third goal), would have likely cruised to an even more comfortable victory, one that would have far more accurately reflected the actual play on the ice.

Tonight the Sens face a far more challenging opponent with a goaltender whose made a living off of stoning the Sens.

If ever a game called for sticking to the plan, for 60 minutes and playing to win, no matter the scoreboard, this is it.

Win or lose, this team has to play to win tonight and every night.

Tonight will see Ottawa play its third game after posting a win.

We all know how it went in the previous two attempts, but for the sake of torture, here's a review.

After having defeated the Hurricanes, Ottawa next went into Montreal.  After posting a two-goal lead early in the second, the Sens went into their defensive shell, and when the dust settled, lost 4-3.

After their next win of the season, a strong 40 minute performance in Buffalo, the Sens faced, yup, the Canadiens, only this time at home.  In this game, there was no lead to protect.  The only "kitty bar the door" about this game referred to the locker room door, from the media, who no doubt were going to ask some difficult questions about the Sens horrific home ice performance.

Cue the win over a tired, but desperate Phoenix, another up and down game featuring the Sens infamous "defensive shell".

What troubles me thus far in the season is not the record, per se, it's how it has come to be.  Many, including the Sens, have pointed to a lack of consistency. 

I don't get it, if anything, this team has been far too consistent, consistently bad, even when winning.

This isn't to say they haven't had some good shifts, periods, or even two-thirds of games, but what has been present in every game, win, loss or tie, has been a woeful willingness to "back-off" the opposition.  A willingness to either protect leads or, strangely, protect narrow defeats.

This team does not believe it itself.

And tonight represents the next opportunity to challenge the opposition to beat them at their best rather than do their best to not be beaten.

A fine line for sure, but in a competitive league, a line easily crossed, either way.

After a tremendous first period in which the Senators out-shot, outplayed and outscored the opposition, the Sens once again went into a shell in hopes of protecting a lead.

In each of the teams two previous wins and in the game they led but eventually lost in OT to Washington, the team's lack of confidence has led to the evaporation of leads.

Honestly, how do you go from out-shooting the opposition 20-8 in the first, then being out-shot 11-5 in the second? By stopping doing what earned you the lead, in hopes of simply protecting it.

The result? Another blown lead.

Here we go again.

After having this happen every time you've done it, what would make you to do it again? An abject lack of confidence.

This team has to be willing to risk losing in trying to win, rather than risk winning in trying not to lose.

Like it or not, it is this simple.

Hockey, for all of the X's and O's, systems and game-plans, is still a simple game; a simple game these men have been playing all of their lives.

If this team can't relax and stick to the plan for 60 minutes, all of this playing not to lose will result in a lot more losing, not winning.

Then the story changed.

With Phoenix having just scored their second goal to close the lead to one, Kovy slapped some sense into his team by scoring his second goal of the game, restoring the team's two goal lead, and suddenly the Sens came back to life, just when it seemed they we're doomed to go down weeping.

Love him or hate him, look no further than Alexei Kovalev for why this team didn't lose this game in pathetic fashion.

Look to him for why this story changed.

Melnyk said he was looking forward to Kovalev "Exploding." Well Big Mel...

KABOOM!

Only three weeks ago, the city of Ottawa was bursting with expectation and hope for their cherished Senators and the season ahead.

General manager Bryan Murray was proclaiming that a first place finish in the Northeast was within their reach, the fans were looking forward to seeing the Leafs spanked in the Battle of Ontario, and the media was proclaiming this to be a possible rebound season for Alexei Kovalev and Jason Spezza and a breakout year for Nick Foligno and Peter Regin.

Three weeks later, what has gone wrong?

Some are looking at our aging veterans and saying that the team is simply too old to compete. With an average age of 28.27, the Senators are the seventh oldest team in the league. Yet Calgary and Detroit are the two oldest teams, and both are sitting comfortably in the top four in the Western Conference. No one is proclaiming them too old to play the game.

If it's not the lack of youth causing the Senators' downward spiral, what is it then?

"It’s not just one thing," said centre Chris Kelly following Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. "If it was one thing, you could address it. But it seems to be all parts of our game. Obviously, getting the puck to the net and creating offensive opportunities and taking care of our own end and getting outworked at times.”

That seems to be the heart of the matter.

The Senators don't shoot enough, they are sloppy on defence and they haven't played consistently for 60 minutes once this year yet.

In three games out of eight they have been held to fewer than 20 shots on goals, and six times this year they have scored a goal only to allow the opposing team to take back the momentum and score the follow-up goal. Add to this that they have been outscored 10-3 in the first period, and some of this slump starts to make sense.

They are being lazy and inconsistent.

Coach Cory Clouston seems to think that this lack of effort and consistency stems from a lack of confidence.

"Today was all about trying to build (the confidence) back up," Clouston said after Monday's practice. "Today was all about showing the guys where they worked hard, where they created the turnovers, where they did what we want them to do. It was also about what we didn’t do after that. Where we didn’t follow through with the structured play. It’s one thing working hard to come back and create the turnovers, but you have to be able to get on the attack."

Defenceman Chris Phillips disagrees somewhat: "I think the important word for us is consistency and we just have to do that for a full 60 minutes. It’s not the confidence to wonder if we can...because we have. It’s about maintaining that, doing it for the full 60 minutes, shift by shift, and night in and night out."

After three weeks of shoddy play, however, many are growing tired of these clichéd answers: We have to build confidence; one shift at a time; play as a team; and getting back to basics.

Perhaps the time for talk is over. Perhaps this slump is causing everyone on the team and in the media to think too much. Perhaps the team just needs to go out there and play.

As they say, actions speak louder than words.

Christopher Smith runs senspedia.com, an Ottawa Senators fan site.

There are a number of excuses that could be raised to soften the blow of the Senators' poor start, but you won't read them here.

Seriously, why bother?

Every team encounters adversity throughout a season, but they don't all fail to overcome it as the Senators have.

There have also been a number of quotes from players, coaches and management, all saying the right things—but the words never seem to translate into much improvement on the ice, where it truly matters.

But, the recent words from Mike Fisher appear to say it all:

“When everything’s going well, you just go out and play and you don’t worry about the X’s and O’s,” Fisher said.

“It seems like you’re always ready. We've got to get back to having that winning feeling and just going out to play and having a little bit of fun. We all know how to play the game. It’s just a matter of doing it together and doing it as a unit.”

This is what the Senators have not been doing: just playing the game.

To date there has been far too much backing off, far too much waiting for someone else to fill the gap, to receive the puck or to retrieve the puck.  It's not laziness or a lack of skill, it's an issue of confidence.

The Senators just have to commit to doing what they know how to do: play the game.  Stop re-thinking every play or backing off in fear of losing a puck battle.

When the Sens dominated the Sabres, they did it by committing to every puck battle with both feet, all in.

When they lost to Montreal, they backed off of every puck battle, instead peeling off to try to play defence.

This is supposed to be a puck pressure team, but instead of applying pressure, they're taking the pressure off of their opposition and playing without confidence.

It will come, but with every loss the pressure only mounts and the opportunities shrink.

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun is reporting that Bryan Murray has not been able to find a trade partner to shake up the Senators' roster. They are very tight against the cap so a trade could be difficult to make, as such, the Senators have tried to trade Brian Lee since this summer but he has been terrible. Teams are willing to take Nick Foligno and Erik Karlsson but Murray isn't interested in moving them.

Man, that was awful.

Worse still was how this embarrassing loss drove home the fact that the Sens' only two wins of the season are the exceptions, while last night's disgraceful play represents the new expectation from this year's Senators.

The only bright spot, as has been the other norm so far, was the play of the Ottawa goaltender, once again all for naught.

Honestly, what is there to say?

They won the majority of face-offs? Awesome.

Jarkko Ruutu pummelled Jeff Halpern? Sweet.

They were only out-shot, 34-19? How nice.

They only lost by three goals? Gee, could have been worse.

The Sens emptied both barrels within the first four shifts, and spent the rest of the game on their backs with Montreal pulling its collective noses.

It was a disgrace to the uniform and the fans, and I'm being kind.

Eight games in and the Sens have shown no reason to believe in an impending change.  In fact, they've made a strong case for a very long and frustrating season.

The answer to the problem lies in the dressing room. So far all we've seen from the majority of that bunch is a group blank stare.

Gerald Norton is a B/R Senators Featured Columnist and owner of the Ottawa Senators blog sensay.wordpress.com

The Sens and Habs will meet again tonight, for the second of their six meetings of the regular season.

This time Ottawa has home ice advantage, and the advantage of momentum, if a one-game winning streak can be considered momentous...actually, for Sens fans, a one-game win streak is as good as it gets, so far.

Ottawa comes into this game sporting a woe-full 2-4-1 record but riding the crest of their best team performance to date and hopefully some renewed enthusiasm thanks to Alfredsson's 1000th point.

Montreal, on the other hand, will hit Scotia Bank ice after having lost a shutout match to the stingy, but struggling, NJ Devils. 

Montreal out shot their opponent 29-20 but still lost 3-0 thanks to another questionable performance by Habs starter Carey Price (vs. NJ - 0.850 SV%) and the struggling defensive pairing of Georges and Gill (game worst minus-3 & minus-3 respectively).

Ottawa too has had its share of goaltending woes and will start embattled stopper Brian Elliott, who although having earned the only two Sens wins of the season, has also allowed far too many weak and untimely goals to be considered a reliable No. 1.

Power-play special teams remain a problem for both teams.  Montreal, currently ranking 29th overall, with only a single P.P. goal to date, is struggling with the loss of Andre Markov. 

The Sens, although sporting a recently improved power play, currently ranking 16th overall, struggled mightily on the P.P. in the first five games of the season and hope the recent improved special teams scoring is the new norm, not the exception.

If the stats mean anything, expect a low scoring game, ending with one or the other goaltenders' skates being held to the fire by nervous fans.

Of the two, the Habs, with a 3-2-1  record, have performed much better and are likely feeling less pressure to get the win (with the exception of Price, who must be playing on pins and needles) than the Senators who are trying to claw their way out of the Eastern Conference basement before it's too late.

Will the added pressure help or hurt the Sens? 

If last night's performance is any indication, it can be hoped the "desperation" is a catalyst for improved play.

But one win does not make a marked change, two on the other hand, could make a world of difference.

Out for the Sens will be Kuba (broken leg) and Leclaire (groin).  Spezza (groin) will be a G.T.D., with Zach Smith having been recalled to take over Lee's fourth line role should Spezza not be good to go.  Either way, Lee will be a H.S.

Gerald Norton is a B/R Senators Featured Columnist and owner of the Ottawa Senators blog sensay.wordpress.com

In a sport rife with hyperbole, to call a moment special, a player iconic, or a number a legend is almost commonplace.

Daniel Alfredsson has created, or is, all of those things, except commonplace.

To tally his 1000th point, while scoring his 8th career hat trick, in a near "must-win" game, is just Alfie being Alfie.

To try to encapsulate in words what Daniel Alfredsson means to Sens fans is simply impossible.  To truly know this, you must be a Sens fan.  Others can appreciate his all-star combination of leadership, two-way play, and offensive prowess, but only a Sens fan can attach to all of these attributes the special moments they have created.

To us Sens fans, Alfie is not simply an impressive set of stats, or highlight-reel plays, but rather a representation of the team we love. 

Daniel Alfredsson is the Ottawa Senators.

We often hear the term "good in the community" attached to players, well-deservedly, but chief among them is #11, a tireless contributor not only to the Ottawa community, but also to his Swedish home town. 

As great as Alfredsson leads and performs on the ice, he does as much or more for society at large.

I had the opportunity to celebrate Alfie's 1000th game, and look forward to celebrating his 1000th point. But greatest of all, by far, has been the honour and privilege of watching him develop from his Calder-winning season to the amazing player he is today.

You continue to amaze and humble me, Mr. Alfredsson.

Alfie, Alfie, Alfie.

GN