Another game and another big win on home ice. The Senators completed their long climb back to .500 with a hard fought 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens. On a night when neither team got great goaltending, the Senators were able to hold off a reeling Montreal team and win the second game on this short three game home stand. Ottawa will look to make it a perfect 3-0 on Saturday night when they host the league's worst team in the New York Islanders.
Jason Spezza had an impressive game for the Senators scoring twice and adding an assist, giving him 63 points on the season. Alfredsson was also his usual dominant self tonight picking up a goal and an assist and doing a great job on the PK.
On the back end the Senators continued to get solid offensive production from both Brendan Bell and Filip Kuba. Bell picked two more assists a game after registering a 2 goal performance against the Sabres. Kuba picked up two more power play assists and now has 21 on the season. That gives Kuba the same number of PP helpers as guys like Joe Thornton, Jarome Iginla and Niklas Lidstrom, and the guy has played just 59 games. If he can keep that kind of production up his contract looks like a bargain.
The often under appreciated Anton Volchenkov had another monster game for the Sens tonight. His hit on D'Agostini seemed to wake the Senators up tonight and while I don't have the numbers in front of me it semmed like A-Train and Phillips blocked a ton of shots tonight.
Just a devastating loss for the Montreal Canadiens and their struggling sophomore Carey Price. The Habs are now just one point clear of the 9th place Panthers and are in danger of falling out the playoffs all together in a year where they were touted as Stanley Cup contenders. This team has got to make the switch to Halak permanently before its too late...or not, what do I care?
This evening's win puts the Senators 11 points back of the Hurricanes with 2 games in hand and also 11 back of the Habs with just one game in hand. Just keep winning...
12 comments:
I'm confused on whether or not bell is good for this team. He is crap defensively, but he keeps putting up points lately. the campoli-bell pairing was brutal tonight.
Go Away, Go Away Go Away Go Away, Go Away, Gooo Awayyyy...
Sens may not make the post season, but that sure was fun to watch!
Volchenkov under appreciated? Since when? I think all Sens fan appreciate the sacrifices he makes on a daily basis. He has as much heart as guys like Alfie and Philips. The guy is a beast!
Great win for us tonight. Hold on to the dream SC!
Go Sens Go!
p.s. I can sleep better knowing that those loser Habs fans had a depressing ride back in the OC Transpo.
i know the chances are slim, but i would just love it if the sens squeaked into the playoffs. i will continue to believe until the last game is played. i made a promise that if somehow the sens made the post-season, i would go out and spend the money to buy a jersey.
GO SENS GO!
Just keep winning is right. Im thrilled to see the guys bringing it every night!
Not only that, when is the last time you've seen this team work so hard? How many times in the past couple games have the sens climbed back into the game and won it?
I for one am psyched to see the guys play, even if its to play the spoiler roll. And who knows... if the Habs keep playing that way, someone will have to take their spot right?
Dare to dream?
loving the sens beating the habs on my b-day go sens finish the season with a bang....other players not mentioned in the blog who were monsters last night:
nick foligno....this guy is kinda getting scary good!
ryan shannon.....wth was he doing down in the A?
I don't know about you but this stretch is getting me excited again about watching the Sens.
Looking at the last 10 of seeds 6 to 10 and that tells me it's still very much possible. Plus we still play:
* Rangers (6th seed) Sunday
* Hurricanes (T-7th seed) Wednesday
* Panthers (9th Seed) Mar 31
* Canadians (T-7th seed) Apr 6
The down side, Boston twice, Flyers and Devils. All thought games.
one thing i noticed is that Phillips is on pace (for 82 games under CC) for 37 pts!!
Mat, unfortunately I know people who actually want Volchenkov traded because he "screens the goalie way too much." Usually when those people open their mouths I give them the death glare and threaten to punch them, but there are fans out there who are like that. :(
And hey! Now we only need 12 straight wins to have a chance at making the playoffs! Part of me wants it to happen so bad...so that we can be the ultimate Cinderella team. ;D
Sigh, Clouston was brought in a month too late. We'd probably be in 9th or tied for 8th right now ... 12 more would mean 14 in a row - possible if they play like they started last season, LOL. Until the math says they are out there is still a chance, but it is closing on 6-49 odds if not already.
The silver lining is that with a few minor tweaks in the off season, there appears to be a contender in there after all.
The question becomes can they pick up where they leave off or will next years start be more of the same?
Is the defense a stud d-man away or does this group just need to gel?
Hopefully Foligno progresses next year - he looks like he could be a solid 20g 45 pt 3rd liner.
All positive signs going forward ... but I'm cautiously optimistic.
The math actually points to an 89-90pt cutoff, with the way the schedule is for the remaining teams. This does assume a few things, such as Carolina losing to New Jersey and the like. Ottawa can go 10-2 for 90pts, which is fairly realistic with the teams they are facing.
I wish Clouston was brought on sooner...then we would have a much more realistic chance of making the post-season!!
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