SENShobo
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Islanders Sink Listless Sens
by SENShobo on 11/14/08 at 08:53 AM ET
Comments (3)
Shannon makes his Ottawa debut, has it ended with yet another elbow, and Ruutu won’t change his ways upon his return, but first…
From the Ottawa Sun, on last night’s 1-3 loss to the Islanders,
“I can’t explain it. This is a team that has been on a roller-coaster ride here,” said Hartsburg. “When it plays with emotion and energy, they’re very good. But this is also a team that struggled with this part of the game last year for the last 40 games. So somehow that part of our game, we’ve got to get it out of us because it kills us.
“You can’t play the game and be a good team unless you consistently are excited about the challenge in the hockey game and that’s a physical challenge to start.”
Only sixteen games into the season, the Senators may well be taking the NHL’s “Is this the year?” slogan and pointing it away from the Stanley Cup, and towards the Senators’ postseason appearance streak.
I can’t explain it either. Missing seven regulars, including top notch goaltender Rick DiPietro and brief Senator Mike Comrie, the Sens should have made short work of the Isles. Sure enough, on an early powerplay, Kuba finally had the perfectly timed pass high in the slot, and into the net it went for his first goal as a Senator.
Much of the first actually looked good for the Sens. Sure, the Isles would punch into the zone, but the Sens were showing patience, waiting for their chance to pounce on the puck, and opportunistically move it up the ice. Some players might have balked at going from the top line to the fourth line, but Foligno was showing a bit of jump early on. He found a nice break in on net with Neil, nearly scoring a goal, and after his shift started going over it and other ideas with Neil on the bench.
Halfway in though, the Senators gave up a pair of penalties, and as the four minutes of powerplay, Kyle Okposo scored on Alex Auld. In the second, Trent Hunter would find himself at the net and backhand the puck over Auld’s pad to take the lead, and it was padded in the third when Auld was scrambling around the crease thanks to hungry Islanders work, and Doug Weight managed to slide the puck through the blue paint to a waiting Bill Guerin, who easily tapped it in.
It was Auld’s play that, as in the 0-4 loss to Montreal, kept a bad loss from becoming ridiculous. After Saturday in Long Island, the Sens face the Rangers twice and the Habs and Leafs once before a return to Long Island, meaning Auld’s continued reliable play will likely earn him the start in seven straight games, relatively well spaced out as they are with no real need for rest, working on his third this Saturday.
The stats from NHL.com‘s recap of the game put things into interesting perspective. The score may not look it, but the Senators were evenly producing in many ways: outshot only 31-30, both teams missing, blocking, and attempting to block 11 shots, faceoffs won by Ottawa 51% of the time, and the only big gap was Ottawa outhitting 22-14.
Yet the Islanders come away with the win, and their harder work in nearly every facet of the game reminded me of another team that was counted out before it had a chance, as I recall watching Toronto’s first game, a win against Detroit. For their superior hit count, the Isles were more strategic, using their tenacity to get the puck coughed up or the rush held up. Ottawa was often offered up space in the offensive zone, but always to the sides, rarely getting good scoring position. The Isles remember Wayne Gretzky’s wise advice: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and so they took shots from all over to start the game, outshooting Ottawa 16-5 in the first, knowing that a shot that made it to Auld could result in a juicy rebound or net-crashing opportunity.
By giving the Senators only poor scoring chances, and covering them in the good positions, it felt like they used the reverse tactic defensively, convincing the Sens that sharp angle and through the crowd shots were not worth taking, and true to Gretzky’s word, all 100% of those shots not taken failed to get Ottawa back in the game.
Granted, MacDonald played a role in that, but there were several times where the puck eluded him completely, where the Senators would hit the post, and where luck just would not shine in Ottawa’s favour. In the absence of luck, you have to make your own, and the Senators will have to start working hard now. There is no reason to think that efforts should be saved for the postseason, as making it in is looking less likely with every day, and so now is the time for all Senators to work as hard as they can, unless they feel they want to offer themselves up as the victims of a shake-up trade.
From the Ottawa Citizen, on Shannon’s debut in and jarring exit from last night’s game,
“I didn’t mean to hit him like that,” said Pock. “I’m going to give him a call later. I’ve known him for years. I played in college against him. I feel bad about it. It was a bad play. That’s all I can say about it.”
....
“You would think (Pock would be suspended),” Phillips said. “After all that has happened, that the NHL would crack down on shots to the head like that. There’s no need for it in the game, so I would expect something to happen.”
When a video becomes available, I’ll post it, but rest assured that if Ruutu earned two games for the contact I offered a lawyer-like potential defense of yesterday, Polk will find himself with at least that much.
Update - 11:30AM
Paul has posted a link to the TSN review, where at the 1:15 mark you see a very deliberate elbow into Shannon. He will face a hearing today.
Shannon showed good hustle coming up to Ottawa’s top line from Binghamton. He looked a little nerved at times, once having a puck slip under his stick while at the side of MacDonald’s net, and another time foregoing a good close scoring opportunity to pass the puck to Spezza. Ending the game with a hit to the head, and limping off the ice with a visibly pain-filled leg makes you wonder if he will be able to make the trip to Long Island or not, but his time on the ice was not a wasted effort.
Ruutu, for his part, won’t change his game when he returns.
“I’ll be the same player when I come out again,” he said. “I just have to get some rest and come out with more energy. I don’t care who is on the other side. I know how I play. The more you play, the more you understand the psyche of players. That’s the way I play. I don’t think these guys (the Senators) liked me too much when I was playing in Pittsburgh and Vancouver, but that’s my strength and I have to be good at it.”
Ruutu says he has no issue with anyone who wants to compare him to Dallas Stars agitator Sean Avery, but he doesn’t believe he’s as controversial off the ice.
“The stuff that happens on the ice stays on the ice, but I don’t know if that’s the case with him, but he does whatever he wants.”
His game should not change, as his agitating ways are exactly what we want him for. Yes, the elbow was an unfortunate turn of events, but it was the exception and anything but the rule for Ruutu. It will be interesting to see him return against the Rangers, who now Avery-less will find themselves on the other side of the fence this season.
Fighting does not seem to motivate teams, especially the Senators, much anymore, and Neil wisely said “no thank you” when a stick was dropped last night, a dance offered up. Shaking players off their game, especially the way Ruutu can, is what slows your opponent, makes them take the unnecessary penalties, and forces the team into better opportunities. The only question is, can the Senators start to make use of those chances they are offered up?
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
Tags: Jarkko+Ruutu, Ryan+Shannon,
Comments
they have the team, they just don’t have the coach. the post lock out sens have never worked 60 minutes for a win. the only difference now is that they have half the talent they did in 05-06 when they could score at will. the bad habits have been there since murray started coaching but they only started to show last year. in today’s parity nhl the only way this team has a chance of succeeding is if they are properly coached and so far it looks like hartsburg is not the man.
Posted by hajda from montreal on 11/14/08 at 11:19 AM ET
It’s Ray Emery’s fault, he’s late for practice, drives a hummer, has tattoos, smokes crack. What’s that, Ray’s where, Russia!
Then why does Ottawa still suck, I thought it was all Ray’s fault.
Posted by Travis Ro from Calgary on 11/14/08 at 11:47 AM ET
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As I’ve pointed out before…the Sens are NOT making the playoffs. There are 4 elements to playing good hockey. Goaltending, defense, scoring and coaching. The Sens are missing at least three…...
Posted by kevin from boston on 11/14/08 at 09:49 AM ET