Sure the two that did get by him weren't the greatest but he was good when he had to be. I hesitate to compare Pascal to a guy like Brodeur but thats just what this was. Like Marty so often does, he let in a couple that he would like to have back but when he needed to be there he was.
Leclaire made several key stops in the third period and is the reason Ottawa came away with the win against the rival Leafs.
Alex Kovalev was very good for the Senators tonight and showed some good chemistry with Mike Fisher, who scored twice for Ottawa. Maybe Clouston does know what hes doing with these lines afterall.
Thanks to all of you who came out to the Live Blog tonight. There were a few Leaf fans in there but we definitely had them outnumbered!
Anyway, thats all for tonight...
Until tomorrow...
44 comments:
Leclaire, Picard, Fisher and Donovan all had a great game.In my personal opinion, we have the best fourth line in the league.
Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on
Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on
Snoopy played in a very tough part of town
and the Leafies, tried to put our Snoopy down
Snoopy we don't care, what your daddy do
Cuz you know Snoopy, we're all in love with you
and so I say now
Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on
Hang on Snoopy, Snoopy hang on
Great game from Fisher, I was really hard on him at the start of the year but he's really been playing better than I've ever seen him play this season. Leclaire definitely bailed us out in the 3rd period but he seemed shaky all night. He was constantly looking behind him and just didn't look comfortable for most of the game. Hopefully the great performance at the end will help get his confidence back up because we're going to need him to steal some games for us over the next two months.
The 3rd period was the LeClaire show plain and simple.
I liked Vermette, but I'd rather have Leclaire on my team (especially if you throw in Robin Lehner as well)
Hey Harv, good song, and I'm sorry about your academic history. I got thrown out of a lot of places as well. Back to the game - is there anything wrong with a 2 or 3 goal lead? Why do I have to mess myself almost every game?
I'm going to disagree hardcore SC. Clouston doesn't seem to have a clue about how badly his first line is struggling. Zero points in 5 games for Spezza is unacceptable. There is zero chemistry for Michalek-Spezza-Alfie. In fact tonight every time Kessel matched up against them he made them look awful. Almost all of the Leafs scoring chances came from Kessel's line against that line, like at least 15+. The only scoring chances Spezza's line created were return rushes off chances the Kessel line failed to finish.
The SINGLE shift Cheechoo linked up with Michalek and those two found their chemistry right away and spent a minute and half in the zone.
Watching an entire came where Clouston fails to identify that Michalek-Spezza-Alfie were getting murdered by the Kessel line all night long and not do a thing about it. Ridiculously fucking frustrating I was so pissed watching this unfold at ice level.
Absolutely ridiculous that the coach refuses to admit this first line isn't working worth shit. This game probably ends up 6-2 Ottawa if he balances his lines properly and shuts down Kessel. Just pure stupid from Clouston.
/endrant
Well said actually Benjamin.
I was mostly referring to the chemistry Fisher and Kovalev showed.
I dont think these are the optimal lines by any means.
Well said actually Benjamin.
I was mostly referring to the chemistry Fisher and Kovalev showed.
I dont think these are the optimal lines by any means.
I agree with Benjamin.
it seems kovalev likes finding the long pass to fisher, so maybe throw fisher back on the wing and have spezza centre them.
fisher-spezza-kovalev
michalek-regin-alfredsson
cheechoo-foligno-neil
ruutu-winchester-donovan
regin played well when given minutes and skilled players. That second line would match up amazingly against any top line in the league in terms of shut down with counter rush skills
i know just the 12,000,400th time someone submitted their own lines lol
right on BeJamin,
the top line of the senators looked more like a bunch of hapless rookies on a fourth line.
alfie seems to have zero spunk in his game. michalek is completely off touch with alfredsson and they bump into each other REPEATEDLY. not good by Clouston. just not good. and then these guys shift after shift for the last 10 minutes just played the trap for some stupid reason. how does Clouston explain that? are the players not listening to him or his game plan not getting across to them properly? something is amiss there really because you dont see a team do that flip-flop in playing styles three games in a row. you would think he would have handed them their asses on the trap they tried against philly.
also, Spezza losing faceoffs to Matt Stajan? YIKES. now that is not right. Clouston needs to fix that top line. they wont get by the pens or the sabres with that kind of shit effort from their top line. on the other hand, man that fourth line rocks for us, so does the third and the second.
kovalev really showed up today. wish he would have gotten a goal. that would have been sweeter.
just didnt like the way it ended though. the leafs were done after the fisher goal. these guys should have gone for the kill to start the second. what idiots. give the stupid leafs commentators a chance to make the leafs look better than they really are.
good two points, but again, as with every game they win and lose, you can find holes in the gameplan that need to be fixed fast. not excusable at the 20 game mark. need to be more intense in the third, and have that shoot to kill instinct. need to get the first line clicking, stop wasting spezza's gas clouston. jeeze.
leclaire was bomb. WOW.
My God, Picard is just horrible. Yeah he got two assists but he is just terrible. Constantly coughing up the puck in our own zone and is afraid to play physical. I just hope he's gone after this season. Was at the game and just cringed everytime he had the puck.
no alfie and michalek need to be on separate lines. the whole mismatch is more an issue of alfie and michalek not jiving. spezza-michalek and cheechoo was a line that clicked, but clouston shat his diapers too early with cheechoo because cheechoo's lack of goal scoring threw off clouston's constipation which is still lingering and clouston is still shitting his diapers and he is shitting it so bad that he cant open his eyes long enough to see that the first line he put together is just that: SHIT ON ICE.
He gets bashed on a daily basis on blogs everywhere, but tonight, we must give him credit. Picard played a really good game. Wish he could play like that all the time.
About Leclaire... wow! Bad goals aside, how many time has he made ridiculous saves!! I mean, he truly is amazing when he plays like that. I'm pretty sure the bad goals will start to go away shortly. As a lot of experts had it at the beginning of the season, we are going to make or break with this guy. Not sure on which side we'll land, but there surely is some hope.
I like the Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo line. That puts Alfie with Kovy and Fisher (our best line so far). Our energy line is great. Clouston (or Murray) have to figure out what to do with Kelly, he seems kinda lost since Vermette has been traded. :-S
Marc
michalek - spezza - cheechoo
alfie - fisher - kovalev
those lines were money and theres no doubt in my mind we should go back to them. I'm not sure why we ditched them in the first place
disappointing to see carkner get dummied like that..good to see our 4th line hype it up !!!
go sens go
I would like to see
Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo
Alfie-Fisher-Kovy
We need to go back to the first two lines we were using a little while back, which were working pretty well.
Michalek- Spezza- Cheechoo
Kovalev- Fisher- Alfredsson
Foligno- Regin/ Winchester- Neil
Ruutu- Kelly- Donovan
All of these lines have proven in the past that they work well together. Fisher and Alfie are awesome with eachother, and would be even better now that Kovalev has chemistry with Fisher as well. The first line was also playing very well before Spezza's injury, and maybe it could even get Cheechoo a couple more goals.
also, kelly again showed his superb shooting skills by deflecting a shot away from toskala instead of letting it hit toskala and then tapping in the rebound.
Great game, by Leclair, he saved this one in the 3rd(15 shots- 4, the Sens have to be better than tha). Luck, also played a role with players like Blake missing open nets. Clouston, should have realized he has his job because Hartsburgh, played the trap with this team for 40 games and it doesn't work for this team. Our D's not good enough and our goaltending for the most part is not above average. Perhaps the goaltending may improve, but the fact remains our D with the exception of Phillips and Volchie, aren't skilled enough to play a shut down game. Clouston proved when your D's as bad as ours, you have to play offense, sitting back is a reciepe for disaster I don't know why he is playing so conservative latley. Nothing helps break a losing streak like a game against the leafs, glad they were able to do there part. Looks like the Bruins will be getting a potential top 5 pick this year to replace Kessel and who knows maybe another next season.
Great game, by Leclair, he saved this one in the 3rd(15 shots- 4, the Sens have to be better than tha). Luck, also played a role with players like Blake missing open nets. Clouston, should have realized he has his job because Hartsburgh, played the trap with this team for 40 games and it doesn't work for this team. Our D's not good enough and our goaltending for the most part is not above average. Perhaps the goaltending may improve, but the fact remains our D with the exception of Phillips and Volchie, aren't skilled enough to play a shut down game. Clouston proved when your D's as bad as ours, you have to play offense, sitting back is a reciepe for disaster I don't know why he is playing so conservative latley. Nothing helps break a losing streak like a game against the leafs, glad they were able to do there part. Looks like the Bruins will be getting a potential top 5 pick this year to replace Kessel and who knows maybe another next season.
the sens need to improve on there transition game its not consistant at all and murray should try to find a better 3rd or 4th dman lee is getting better but picard and campoli just arnt the answer perhaps the hawks are potential tradinging partners cam barker would be a nice fit but getting him and fitting him under the cap are pretty hard to fathom.
"also, kelly again showed his superb shooting skills by deflecting a shot away from toskala instead of letting it hit toskala and then tapping in the rebound."
Players are taught to get their stick in front of the goalie to deflect a shot, not let the puck go right to him and have the goalie potentially smother it for a whistle.
Why do people hate on Kelly so much? You do realize that Stanley Cup winning teams have forwards who play a shutdown game and don't score much (see Pahlsson for example).
It is too bad big country got lit up but 3 of 4 ain't bad as winchy, ruutu, and neiler dominated their fights and kept the energy going. Nice game by Winchester i thought. This guy belongs in the NHL. Was touted as a top 2 liner and has changed is role into a 3rd or 4th line grinder...not easy to do. He had a nice fight, a big hit, and was good along the boards. He also has SOME hands and will get pucks on net (are you listening Kelly?)
the michalek-spezza-alffy line doesnt work. Put alffy back with fisher, i dont care if you do alffy-fisher-kovalev. But alffy plays really well with fish
Good game, lots of passion and reminded me of the old rivalry back in the early millenium. I agree with many people saying that we should go back to spezza with michalek and cheechoo, with alfie joining fisher and kovalev. I think Clouston is experimenting with line combos for mid season now. Should see consistent lines after the 20 game mark. Nice save by Leclaire at the end of the second, that was the game breaker. Can't wait for the buffalo game, that will be the true test of where this team stands.
1. Leclaire was unreal. As much as people think he couldve had the first one... try stopping an 80mph+ snap shot from a pure sniper cutting across the ice. You have no idea where he is going to aim because of it. Second goal, double screen/borderline interference.
2. Winchester was very good. I like what he brought to the third line instead of Regin.. and Ive never been a big Winchester fan.
3. Picard was crap... again. Yeah two assists, but he is such a defensive liability I can't stand it. Way too many defensive zone turnovers.
4.Brian Lee is finally started to get confidence his game is vastly improving. Should bump Picard down the depth chart once Volchenkov returns.
5. Our 4th line was amazing and Shannon should not be back in the lineup and Donovan out. They mesh really well together, hit, create chances and play great D.
6. The top two lines need to be Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo and Alfredsson-Fisher-Kovalev. Alfreddson isnt meshing with his linemates and when Cheechoo has been given the chance he is. He also brings a physical element which creates space for his linemates. And as for Fisher and Kovalev... the ultimate odd couple. Have Alfredsson on the left side and join in on the fun.
foligno has no biz on the 2nd line. he is a third liner and a good one at that....2nd line...no thx.
I loved the energy brought by the Ruutu-Kelly-Donovan line.
Also, seeing as this game wasn't sold out maybe these games shouldn't more than other games.
We could have used the extra 2000 Sens fans to drown out the sad boos of leaf douches.
I'm going to focus on a couple our 3rd and 4th line players.
Winchester looked very solid out there. He had a good hit, fight and got a puck or two at the net. He also battled well along the boards and had some speed. I think he should be kept around for now. Also, Donovan should be a staple on that 4th line. He's so good on it and hit a post tonight! I love that guy!
Go Sens go!!!
Marc, you obviously don't spend enough time actually watching the games, and just watch the highlights and stats. Picard played a terrible game again, I dont care if he got points, he made three blatant giveaways in his own zone that Leclaire had to bail him out of. I almost crapped myself when i saw him out on the 4-on-4. He doesn't learn from his mistakes and he is soft as can be. Terrible. And your judgement of Kelly is also ridiculous, the guy has been tremendous all year on that fourth line. He may not put up a ton of points, but when he's on the ice the sens have posession more often than not. Winchester looked equally good last night, and is the only reason we might be able to trade Kelly at some point since they're the same type of player.
On another note, I always said if Fisher could be a little more accurate with that sniper rifle release he has he'd be a goal scorer, and it looks like he's made some real improvement this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see 30-40 goals.
thumbs up to Winchester, Donovan, Leclaire and of course, Fish. What's up with Alfie? He seems to have lost a step - is it just the line juggling that has him off his game? Thumbs down to not getting the freakin' puck out of our end in the third. USE THE GLASS!!
Oh, and Gary Galley is quickly becoming one of the best colour guys in hockey. He and Dean Brown do a great job together.
people think that Kovalev was good because he made 2 routine passes? he was AWFUL - just watching the play and turning the puck over in his own end constantly.
K give up on Cheechoo, we gave him every opertunity he just can't keep up with this team. lets send him down and move on. Wincheaster played well. Picard must go.
the Cartner fight hurt me more then Matt One good thing we had this year was Matt Cartner. and it just had to be the leafs DAM
I agree with most posters about going back to the top 2 lines of:
Michalek-Sepzz-Cheechoo
Alfie-Fish-Kovalev
Give Cheechoo another shot. At least he'll work hard for the for the puck and maybe..MAYBE his game will come around.
Great game by Winchester. With efforts like that, how can you not like him over no-hands-Kelly (who makes 4x as much). Shannon should never has a place on the 4th line.
Picard will be the odd man out when Volchenkov comes back, the guy is brutal. Lee is getting confidence and to send him back down would kill that.
Great game by Leclaire. Big test over the next 5 games. Hopefully this don't sit back as much.
hm...maybe alfie is playing injured. he seems to be skipping quite a few practices. definitely has not looked the same since his point streak stopped three games back.
also spezza looks to have lost a little bit of the step or is maybe just frustrated with the line combo/playing style. i suspect that the way the top line played in the last 10 minutes of that game and maybe for the whole game, it definitely has something to do with clouston's instructions. these guys are smart enough to not lay back and play the trap on their own for that long.
secondly, yea picard even with the two assists, nearly cost us the game at NUMEROUS TIMES. i remember this one sequence with about 1:40 remaining in the game. the leafs dumped the puck in the senators zone. but the senators created good space and got the puck back deep in their zone with some time and space to move it out quickly. but unfortunately it ended up being Picard who had to do the honors, next thing you know he fumbles the puck, gets locked in a battle with the leaf's forward, falls/dives, gives the puck up, and leclaire has to make a massive save. i hate clouston for making a stupid and idiotic decision like that and putting two complete defensive idiots in picard and campoli out. in my view, these two guys should be pushed out by Murray IMMEDIATELY. and if they have to live with it, then please dont use these guys in the first and second periods because they are just trouble in their own zone.
on the same note, i think Lee has sufficiently outplayed both Campoli and Picard. He is getting better defensively, is careful offensively and while pinching, is starting to get physical and surprisingly is smart in his own zone when involved in battles. there have been a few moments where i thought he would make a blunder in his zone, but has been smart with his stick and makes safe decent plays with the puck and importantly doesnt fumble it like picard.
phillips also looks shaky at times. and its just mind boggling. its like without volchenkov his game goes down by 50% altogether. maybe the chemistry between him and Kuba is just ZERO.
and kovalev makes those passes every game. we were fortunate this time and fisher did a great job of getting open and finishing it. he has a wicked shot, if only he can just get it on net just like that more often.
again, if you look at the overall game, the forward depth paid off for the senators today when the first line was completely non-existent in the game. and thats a good sign. if only clouston can finally get his head out of the ass and get the lines they way they should be. they would have the forward lines sorted and then they can just worry about the backend. the goaltending to me is fixed for the senators.
anon 10:29, cheechoo has maybe been our most consistent forward. Yes, goal production is nowhere to been seen so far. Hockey has many elements to it and cheech has shown a lot outside of the score sheet. I dont know how you cant like any of this guys game. I belive this guy will still get us around 20. GO CHEECH GO!!!!!
the cheechoo bashing is just not warranted. this guy is obviously and very evidently trying very hard to get back to his scoring ways. clouston has placed him on every line on the team and still he hasnt shown any sign of receding atleast. sure he hasnt scored goals, but he plays his heart out. i think if they stick with him in an honest way and instead of juggling him all over the stupid place, let him stick with a line and just believe that he will get it back, he will definitely service us with 20+ goals. clouston just needs to get patient with cheechoo. i think he should put him on the PP in a similar spot as he did with michalek yesterday, that will definitely get this guy going.
Exciting game last night, but between two bad teams. That third period from the Sens was awful, outshot 15-4. They better get their shit together with Pitt, Sabres and Caps coming to town.
I thought that Winchenster had a great game centring Cheechoo and Neil.
I really didn't like Picard's game. Pretty well every time he was on the ice he either couldn't hold the puck in the offensive zone and he was giving it up to the leaf players in his own zone too much. I could not believe it when Campoli and him were put on the same defensive line again for the powerplay.
The Carkner vs Orr fight was awful. I'm pretty sure that Orr jumped Carkner early or something because Carkner didn't seem like he was ready for it and he seemed pretty mad after the fight was over. From where I was sitting I'm pretty sure Carkner told him that he'd get him next time.
As for the line combinations I'd like to see them look like this:
Fisher - Spezza - Kovalev
Michalek - Regin - Cheechoo
Foligno - Winchester - Alfredsson
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
Before you get on my case or start calling me an idiot because Alfie is on the 3rd line, but I think he would work very well with Winchester and Foligno so long as those two play the way they did in the first and second period last night. They not be perfect lines but hey it would be good to at least give it a try.
Putting the lines together make me realize how hard it is for Clouston to get the right lines together. This team has a lot of guys that can play top 6 minutes, so finding the right lines will be tough. We just have to let this team go through the growing pains and hopefully by January or February we'll have the right mix of lines together.
I have finally agreed with something hq has said on the Cheechoo front, I think he deserves another crack on the Michalek- Spezza line.
@Eh_Matt- How can you possibly have Regin on the second line he isn't ready. He doesn't play physical enough and one of the most consistent players on the team Shean Donovan as a scratch. He is a player that should be a staple on the 4th line. He brings it every game. The line of Ruutu-Kelly-Donovan has been a tremendous fourth line, likely the best fourth line Ottawa has ever had. They control the play, create energy and play well defensively why break them up?
I think it has become trendy for many to say that Leclair let's in "softies"...
Neither goals last night were softies by any means. The first goal was a bullet wrist shot from a 40 goal scorer and the second goal was shot through a screen of three players.
Give it up people. The guy's good and there's nothing to worry about if he's healthy.
p.s. I spent a few posts recently bashing Kovy but I'll be one to admit that Kovalev had a good game yesterday... FINALLY! Now let's see if he can string two or three together.
Phillips makes as many mistakes + he doesnt get points? why do we still have this guy? boggles the mind really.
Leclair is the reason we won that game, if you cant see that, your dillusional.
Spezza is at his best when he has a shooter on his line, without a shooter, the opposition can take away his space knowing he has no pass option. Cheechoo would have been that option but a 12 year old kid is stronger on his skates, man whats wrong with this guy, he crumbles to the ice everytime he is touched. Michalek is pure speed and plays a good 2 way game, not a sniper.
Also Donovan HAS to play every game, GOD, Clouston, wake up man!
Michalek Spezza Winchester
Alfredsson Fisher Kovalev
Foligno Regin Neil
Rutuu Kelly Donovan
And on D......Volchenkov & Kuba, the others are not even worth mentioning
SM
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