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Sens Lose Opener, But Ready For A Fight Tonight
by SENShobo on 10/05/08 at 12:01 PM ET
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- Sens lose to Pens in opener, but put up more than a little fight.
- Spezza accepts criticism over his game costing giveaway.
- Auld to start tonight’s game.
- Fisher won’t play today, as questions about increased pressure mount.
- Contract talks begin for Alfredsson.
- Sens lose to Pens in first game, but a blowout it most certainly was not (Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Ottawa Senators’ web).
You can’t help but wonder how things ended the way they did for the Sens. For most of the game, the Sens looked solid. Except for the four goals he let in, Gerber looked very good. If it didn’t go in, it was because of the great play of Gerber, but that gets lost in the goals that did make it past him. Spezza’s two point effort was certainly overshadowed by the game-winning goal that wouldn’t have happened without his giveaway to the Pens’ Kennedy.
But you have positives to take away. As bad as Gerber looked on those goals, Fleury looked a bit flustered when a puck came from behind the net and he nearly put it in, and when another sharp angle Vermette shot hit him and narrowly wound up careening out of harm’s way when it hit the crossbar, instead of in. While it was only a single goal, Heatley and Spezza looked sharp in teaming up to connect on the only powerplay goal either team had, and it was most certainly the continued highlight of all the Senators’ play I’ve seen since their playoff exit, their powerplay finesse that kept the game in their hands.
Newcomer Kuba had nearly 30 minutes of play, and like Spezza, for all his good work, most will remember his powerplay shot into the Pens’ zone that hit Neil, and wound up on Malkin’s stick to give the Pens their shorthanded goal (though you have to wonder, was it Gerber failing to keep his left pad down, or Malkin’s leg plowing into it that lifted it up to allow that goal). Of all the surprises made by newcomers, Ruutu was one of the best. It was Neil who jawed his way into drawing a penalty, but Ruutu was constantly keeping the play moving, and as a defensive forward he never let you down last night. Facing the teams that were in the Finals in your first three games is anything but easy, but if the Senators can focus on being disciplined, keeping their strengths in mind and letting go of any stress over their slip-ups, they won’t have to walk away winless.
- Spezza shows maturity as he realizes he tried to shoulder to much in overtime, leading to the Penguins’ game winner (Ottawa Sun).
“I was just trying to win the hockey game and sometimes I get a little carried away and try to do it all myself,” said Spezza, who tried to stickhandle by Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy at the Penguins blue line with about 30 seconds to go in overtime.
“I’m a big boy and I can take criticism. I’ll learn from it. I was just trying to win the hockey game. I think I’m becoming more of a mature of a player. I’ll recover from stuff like that,” said Spezza.
You had to like seeing Spezza of all people coming on for Alfie during a penalty kill to score a shorthanded goal against Fleury, but to those who have seen the stats that put Spezza as the League leader in giveaways per game last season, losing like that last night leaves just a little too much stinging. Hartsburg has been stressing his responsible style, and I’m sure that now that there’s no more roster-auditioning pre-season games, once the team gets home there will be a much increased emphasis on this new style of play.
“We talked to Jason. As a team, we have to protect the puck better,” said Senators coach Craig Hartsburg. “We want people to challenge people with speed. Just protect the puck.
“Put the puck in an area where we can get it back rather than drag it through people.
“We played hard. We did some things well. We’ll take the positives and learn you can’t turn pucks over against this team.”
- Auld to get the start today to prevent him from going three weeks without a game (Ottawa Sun).
“We certainly were thinking about that all along,” said Hartsburg. “We didn’t want to make a decision until last night. We think it’s the best for both of them and our team here tonight.”
Did Gerber’s performance last night - three of the four Penguins goals were suspect - play a role in the decision?
“Not really. We’ve talked about it all week. If we decide that and Martin goes out and gets a shutout last night, it’s awful hard to do that. We think it’s the right thing. Alex has had a good camp and back-to-back early in the season like this, I think it’s important that they both play.”
Certainly there was no reason to give Gerber back to back starts when Auld has not played in over a week and would not likely play for nearly two weeks otherwise. Hopefully there is good discussion between the two goalies, Hartsburg, and goaltending coach Eli Wilson, not only to determine what didn’t go right last night, but also to avoid the potential of unwanted pulling of goalies.
- Fisher might not be playing, but many eyes and much pressure is still on him (Ottawa Sun, Ottawa Citizen).
“I think I can be a second- line centre, no question,” he said. “I know I’m going to be given the opportunity to play lots of minutes ... wherever the coach sees me best fitted. We’ll see how it plays out. Throughout the season and with injuries, there are always changes in lines and match ups or whatever.
“Sometimes you can get caught up in the second and third and all that too much. You can’t let that affect you. I’ve got to concentrate on my game, doing the little things regardless of who I’m playing with.
“When healthy I can definitely get more than (the 47) I did last year ... I’ll get 70 points,” he added with a chuckle, when pressed for a number. “I want to be one of the top offensive guys. I think I can, but I have to focus more on the process and stuff like that. I think the all-round game rather than points. They come more as a by-product.”
A pay increase to his new $4.2 million cap number certainly carries with it increased expectations, but how do you want to see Fisher play? When you see him soundly skating the whole rink, laying hard checks and keeping the game from getting out of hand, do you feel tempted to try and pair him up with nothing-but-skill wingers? It’s hard to convince yourself of that, and Fisher, given the chance, can probably contribute more if he gets the chance to work more with grittier, net-crashers (Foligno anyone?), rather than purely skilled or purely muscled linemates. We won’t get a chance to see him for at least another week though.
“I tried to skate and I can’t go the way I need to go to be able to help,” he said. “I’ve just got to get healthy and take care of it. Hopefully, I’ll be back soon.”
- Contract extension talks began casually Saturday, with little doubt that Alfie won’t be a Senator for life (Ottawa Sun).
Murray came away from the meeting encouraged with what he heard.
“Both sides want to get something done,” he said.
“It is something we both want, but it will take some time to work through to find a structure that is mutually acceptable,” said Barry.
Talks explored a number of options with the Senators wanting to know about Alfredsson’s post-career aspirations, as well. Making Melnyk’s desire to have Alfredsson be “a Senator for life,” as he said the other day in Gothenburg, will likely be part of this negotiation, which will likely continue with another meeting in Ottawa next weekend.
Having a deal announced before the season started, as with Heatley last season, would have been nice, but it would be farfetched to expect it. The fact that both sides are looking for the same goal is about all we need to consider at the moment, and the pieces will fall into place within a few weeks to a month or two at the very most.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Ottawa Senators | SENShobo | Permalink
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