SENShobo
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Sens Knock Teams Around, On Wood
by SENShobo on 10/19/09 at 08:30 AM ET
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Karlsson’s steady improvement, some overlooked moments, and some words with Leclaire, but first..
From the Ottawa Sun, on the Senators pleasantly surprising penalty kill,
On a rare dark night on the NHL schedule, the Senators got to savour another day in first place in the Northeast Division and second in the Eastern Conference.
...
One of the big ones has been the club’s outstanding penalty killing so far, second in the league at 93.1%, behind only the Columbus Blue Jackets (95.8%). The Senators have killed 27 of the 29 short-handed situations they’ve had — the last 17 in a row — including a huge kill of a 3-on-5 situation for a minute and 55 seconds in Saturday night’s 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
...
Carvel said he puts Carkner in the same class as Volchenkov and Phillips as a penalty killer.“He’s got size and strength and reads the game really well. When we get (Filip) Kuba back, I think we’ll have as good a group of four defencemen as any in the league,” said Carvel.
Indeed, as mentioned, with Michalek’s two shorthanded markers, the Senators have had as much success as their opponents from Senators jerseys in the box. Confidence in goaltending — both on and off the ice — has no doubt helped this a great deal.
Still, the stubborn power play has remained a growing cause for concern. If not for Alfie’s marker against Montreal, the Senators would be as successful up a man as they have been down a man. While it might be nice to see the team return to the form that has seen them at or near the top of the League in shorthanded goals in recent seasons, the success of the power play cannot be undermined.
Of the team’s 66 power play goals last season, 15 were scored by, well, number 15, nearly a quarter (Spezza had 13, Alfie 8). The one-timer, catching the goaltender moving from post to post, is not to be underestimated. Nor do the Senators have anyone resembling Shea Weber and a booming cannon from the point, or Holmstrom and a true screening artist.
It might just be a nuisance for the moment, but it can’t be left to stand. Teams cannot feel as though there are no repercussions for adding an extra bruise or scar to our players. They must have some doubt as to how far they can go in robbing a Senator of a scoring chance. As it stands, there is probably more fear seeing Michalek come over the boards shorthanded than there is seeing Alfredsson line up for the power play, and until teams are forced to pay, until they have doubts, victories and opportunities will only continue to slip away. Without any of the key tools to typical man advantage schemes, it will take deft passes from Kovalev and fluid moving setups to right the ship, lest it truly start to flounder.
From the Ottawa Citizen, on arguably Karlsson’s best game in a Senators uniform,
Like all the Senators, Karlsson struggled a bit in the first period on Saturday, Clouston said.
“Maybe it was anxiousness, the nerves, the atmosphere,” Clouston said.
“But I thought the last 40 minutes might have been his best. He looked comfortable, he was making some better plays with the puck, he had a lot more poise with the puck, and physically he was a lot more involved, as well.”
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It also might have helped that Karlsson had only 14 minutes 27 seconds of ice time on Saturday night: 5:04 in the first period, 5:00 in the second and 4:23 in the third.That was about three minutes less than he had been playing per game (17:49) and about had been expected of the rookie defenceman.
Don’t forget that Murray has said he would not judge Karlsson by the 10-game mark, when the first year of his contract would kick in unless he is sent all the way back home to Sweden. Getting good minutes, soaking up Alfie goodness from the home life, it can’t hurt, but whether it be at the 10-game mark or the 25-game mark, the direction of the team and of Karlsson must be given deep thought, one way or the other.
From NHL.com, on the 100 facts to know about the first 100 games,
* Great Starts, part 6. Captain Daniel Alfredsson has led the Ottawa Senators (5-2-0) to the top of the Northeast Division. Alfredsson leads the club in scoring with nine points (three goals, six assists) in seven games and has tallied a pair of game-winning goals.
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* Hat trick, Part 4: The Ottawa Senators earned dividends from the off-season trade with the San Jose Sharks as left wing Milan Michalek tallied a hat trick (including two shorthanded goals) in a 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 15.
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* Pascal Leclaire has solidified the Ottawa Senators’ goaltending picture. Obtained by the Senators from Columbus at the trade deadline last March, Leclaire has won four of his past five starts, posting a 1.80 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in that span.
It seems fair that in a 30-team League, the Senators would be mentioned 3 times. Still, of the 9-part ‘realizing the dream’ segment, it’s fair to say that Carkner, at least in Ottawa, deserves mention. No offence to the talents of Tavares, Hedman, Duchene, Kane, Del Zotto, and the others, but Matt Carkner is truly an unexpected success.
He has played more games this season (seven of seven) than he has in the ten previous seasons after being drafted in the 2nd round, 58th overall, by none other than the rival Canadiens, who might appreciate his shutdown nature at the moment. He averages 18:03 per game, more than Karlsson (17:20 and declining appropriately), Kulikov (17:24), Duchene (16:58), Del Zotto (15:21), and all other rookies but for Gilroy (19:09), Myers (19:46), Tavares (20:35), and Hedman (24:38); sure he’ll turn 29 next month, but no team has felt safe playing him in the NHL for those previous ten seasons. Carkner (1-1—2) has even outscored Karlsson (0-2—2), Filatov (1-0—1), Bozak (0-1—1), and others.
He won’t likely grab many healines, but he’ll steadily take hold of a secure spot on Ottawa’s back end, and the pleasant increase the team has seen in its goals against average, to 7th this season at 2.29 from 15th last season and 2.82.
From the Ottawa Citizen, James Gordon presents questions for Pascal Leclaire,
JG: Another question from Luc — how do you keep yourself focused when there are long periods of play at the other end of the ice, such as a power play? Christian asked — what do you do during intermissions to keep your focus?
PL: It depends. When you’re really busy you don’t really have to think too much, you just react. That’s actually easier, to have more shots, but when you don’t get as many shots, I guess everybody’s different. I talk to myself a lot, which, I don’t know, that might be weird, but it’s just a way for me to stay in it and stay focused.
JG: What would you say to yourself in a game situation?
PL: Kind of repeat the same thing, ‘stay with the game, stay focused.’ It’s always the same thing. It’s pretty weird, but it’s something that works for me. I’m sure the other guys do different things. That’s what I do.
You knew from the first interview after the trade — when it was Leclaire trying to loosen up the media, and asking whether or not they thought he would get free meals if he mentioned that he liked eating at the St.-Hubert’s chain in the Ottawa-Hull region — that he would be an interesting addition for the team. Granted, Ottawa’s never seemed all that short on personality from its goaltenders over the years, but now perhaps they won’t feel short in any department either.
Nice.
And in keeping with my interesting visitors series, the most interesting source has been a student network in Goteborg, Sweden (Alfredsson’s hometown), and the most interesting city was Seoul, South Korea. Cheers for expanding the base, or for being easy to accidentally stumble upon? (to be fair though, “nick boynton insulin” should indeed have led to one of my posts; try it yourself)
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