I was wondering how the Senators would manage it. I watched then skate around the ice, seemingly in slow-motion against a "fast forward" Thrashers team. When the Thrashers regained a two-goal lead for the second time, I must admit I had given up.

But then, the Thrashers committed the ultimate sin, they tried to sit on that two goal lead, and the Senators seemed to come out of their torpor. The pressure the Senators applied was intense, and it was inevitable that something would go in sooner or later. There's a few names that bear mentioning. Prime among these is Marek Svatos. I told my son at a recent game that once Svatos starts scoring, watch out. Svatos has been plagued by injury, but is recovering his form and has the potential to contribute 20-30 goals a season.

Erik Condra continued to impress. For a guy who was picked in the very last round of the 2006 draft (211th), he sure knows how to position himself on the ice. A smart, smart player who managed to find the back of the net on an amazing solo effort by Jason Spezza. I mean wow! That was vintage Spezza right there. Take a look at it, it's worth seeing over and over.

Chris Neil is another who deserves a mention. He had been off the score sheet for so long that it left me to wonder whether he would ever score again. Boy, is he making up lost ground. Lesson learned: crash the net and shoot, and it will go in eventually. Let's mention Patrick Wiercoch's first NHL point here, although Wiercoch has not impressed me as much as I thought he would. He needs more seasoning, and it's a good thing the Sens are out of the playoffs: he's not ready.

Of course, I need to mention the work of Craig "Neo" Anderson. He let in four goals, granted, but the D was porous in front of him and he was peppered with 47 shots. Cut the man some slack, he was awesome.

Neo's numbers

GO SENS GO!!

For the Senators fan, it's an emotional roller coaster. The Sens are playing some tight checking hockey, preventing the 3rd overall Washington Caps from scoring a single goal.

Neo Anderson is spectacular, being the last line of defense, and providing the goaltending the Senators have been needing for so long. The Senators defense, while not perfect, is tight and wins more battles than it loses. The offense is more structured, with each line having its speciality attack method. I love the way the play is developing. The new kids are contributing big time. Erik Condra and Colin Greening got the only goals last night, with some help from other newbie Bobby Butler. A special mention for Milan Michalek who ooked great on his first game back and picked up an assist.
 
On the downside, the Buffalo winlast night means the Senators are mathematically out of the playoffs. It was not unexpected, but to think that Ottawa hockey will end in a bare two weeks is disheartening. On the upside, the Senators are by the same token guaranteed a spot in the draft lottery. Overall, it bodes well for the next season, but a lot can happen over the summer. But first, let's finish this season in style.

On to the Thrashers.

Neo's numbers

GO SENS GO!!

It was great seeing the Senators rebound after the loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. I have to admit two things: the Canes game pissed me off for a few reason, and the Rangers game was pretty boring.

Let's start with the first. It was scary to see a bad goal scored against Curtis McElhinney, because it was a reminder of things we thought past: easy goals against a slew of goalies from Patrick Lalime all the way to Brian Elliott. That first goal put some wind in the Canes sails and they never looked back. I was incensed at the refereeing in the latter part of the third period where Carolina got away with no less than three infractions in a few minutes. Had all three of these been caught, the results may have been totally different.

There, that's out. I'd been stewing on that since Tuesday.

Now the boring Rangers game. That game is what Cory Clouston would call a near perfect game. When the Sens play the Clouston system, the defense is tight and and the offense waits for opportunities. The Senators played exactly that for most of the game. That is until the Rangers pushed hard in the third, and then it was Neo Anderson to the rescue once again. Damn, but he's sharp. And the Sens D got kudos from Neo himself for clearing any garbage he left behind.

Exciting was the shoot-out. With some good goaltending, it's now fun to watch a Sens shoot-out. When Neo faces Henrik Lunqvist, well... Kudos to Erik Karlsson for a lovely game winning shot. Also much kudos to Ryan Shannon who has been very impressive of late. He's UFA at the end of the season and we could do worse than to keep him. More hats off to Filip Kuba who put some serious offensive together, and Colin Greening for reminding everyone that a shot on goal is always a good option.

Neo's numbers

GO SENS GO!!

Done deal!! And a good one at that from the start we saw with Craig "Neo" Anderson. Neo signed a four-year $12.75 million deal. While this sounds like a lot of dough ($3.2 million a year), it's a lot less than what we were paying for Pascal Leclaire.



Another good thing that Anderson has shown is that he can be a leader on the ice, something the Senators have sorely needed over the season. Jason Spezza is showing his leadership now, as are Chris Neil who called out some players this season, and naturally Daniel Alfredsson who leads by example. A few more of these on the team won't hurt.

Anderson hasn't been between the pipes in a while but is likely to see some action on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Here's a recap of his jumbers with the Senators so far.

Neo's numbers


GO SENS GO!!

I almost put a Bob the Builder graphic below, but I resisted the urge. Partially because I've done it before...



But it was nice to see the boys battle back from a two-goal deficit, especially since it hasn't happened too often this season. But it's different now, with the Senators winning two out of every three games. They were able to battle back with some tremendous efforts from some new key players. Ryan Shannon was the first with a great move on Dwayne Roloson, and an extra fist pump to the referee while on his back on the ice. Classic!

Then there was Nick Foligno who was able to pick up a "garbage-type" goal because he was crashing the net. It was also helped by the fact that Zack Smith actually threw the puck at the net. I said it once and I'll say it again and again: put the puck on the net, and good things will happen. Curtis McElhinney also gave a stand-up performance all around, as well as Erik Karlsson who was arguably the best offensive player on the ice.

Of course, muchos kudos to Jason Spezza for the game winner. Spezza has been impressing the pants off of me of late. Anyone who was worried about his character and decication need only see how happy the whole team was on the game winning goal. Karlsson actually jumped in Spezza's arms. It was as if they'd won the Divison finals or something.

I love watching the Senators play these days, and most of the fans can't get enough either.

GO SENS GO!!

Foreshadowing: the use of hints or clues to suggest what will happen later.

Roll back to September 28 and one of the first television interviews with Bryan Murray on the eve of the start of the season. Asked whether the Senators were Stanley Cup contenders, Murray would only commit to "trying to get the team to the playoffs in a comfortable position". He defined the team that he had as a "good building project with good veterans".



Let's face it: Murray knew. Even back then, Murray knew that making the playoffs would be difficult with what he had. I'm unsure of why that is, I'm unsure of what he saw, but he knew. Perhaps it was the coaching, perhaps the  fact that the players weren't buying into the system, I don't know, and perhaps none of us outisde the Sens organization ever will.

I stand by my earlier statement this year that Murray wanted to shuffle the team a lot earlier, but was probably overruled by the "dollars and cents" people who wanted to put spectator butts in the seats by keeping a well-known formation together. It took the worst season of the century, and a hue and cry from the fans for the back office boys to finally realize that Murray needed carte blanche to clean house and turn the Sens back into a winning team. And he has. Since the trade deadline, the Sens are a .667 team. No way is it good enough to get to the playoffs this year, but a consistent record like that over a whole season...

The Senators obtaining the NHL All-Star game was a likely turning point. So was pressure from the press. One gave the sales people the opportunity to renew season tickets with promise of access to the All-Star game, the other promised low attendances if the team didn't start winning at any cost.

I don't blame Murray for the woes suffered by the Sens. I still believe he was told to prop up a popular formation with the fans with whatever signing he could get away with. That way lie the signings of Pascal Leclaire, Alex Kovalev and Sergei Gonchar. Two of three are gone, and Gonchar will has two more seasons to find a niche.

I rather like to look at what he has done at the draft and with scouting, which can be evaluate with the new arrivals on the Senators team, as well as in Binghamton. The B-Sens were a redoutable force in the AHL until Murray started to pull the trigger on some trades. Since then, the B-Sens roster has been a merry-go-round of call-ups which has bolstered Ottawa but sunk Binghamton. Murray understands that talent needs to be developed and not bought (unlike John Muckler). On that side, Murray has been stellar.

It takes five years for a General Manager to leave his mark on a team and for his vision to be realized through trades, acquisitions and drafts. That means he has one more year for us to see what team Murray really had in mind when he came on board. I say let's give him the shot and wait one more year.

GO SENS GO!!

It seems the Ottawa Senators have the New Jersey Devils' number. It's the second time in nine days that the Sens take on the red hot Devils, and hand them a defeat.



The 3-1 defeat last night hurt a lot for the Devils. If they don't make the playoffs, they'll likely look back at those two games as the defining moment where they lost their bid. The Devils had an opportunity to overtake Toronto which was plastered 4-0 by the Panthers. It was a must win for the Devils to gain grounds against the teams ahead of them in the playoffs standings.

But the Sens would have none of it, and are playing like their own playoff bid is in danger. It's surprising that with the constant rotation of players from Bingo, the team still manages to find ways of performing. Of course, the resurgence of Jason Spezza has something to do with it. Spezz has been taking key face-offs and winning them, and has become an amazing two-way player, setting up goals and making great defensive plays.

There's also the fact that the Sens got two goals from Chris Neil... I know it sounds impossible. Neil rarely scores. That's not his role on the team. But last night was one of those golden nights. I also absolutely love the play of  Ryan Shannon of late. For a smaller guy, he sure is feisty, and the way he plays offensively is inspiring. Erik Condra is another that is impressive, and I like his play alongside Marek Svatos. They seem to have a synergy together and I hope Cory Clouston keeps putting them together. Svatos is due soon, I can feel the dam ready to burst. He's had some good opportunities to score against Martin Brodeur and could'nt bury them. When the dam breaks, watch out.

I also have to underscore the play of Curtis McElhinney who was golden between the pipes. Both he and "Neo" Anderson give the Sens a chance every night by making the saves that count.

GO SENS GO!!

After a very successful road trip, it was sort of expected that the Senators would falter somehwere. It's too bad that it had to be against the Buffalo Sabres, a team which the Senators have manhandled in years past.



It wasn't for lack of trying. Four goals is usually enough to secure the W for the defensively minded Senators. It's just that the defense looked very porous against the Sabres. The Sens still looked tired and lacked that "oomph" that served them so well. The shutdown pair of Brian Lee and Chris Phillips weren't up to snuff and were both -3 on the game. But the Senators were on their heels for most of the second half of the game.

The Sabres also made "Neo" Anderson look all too human on a few goals, although two of the Buffalo goals seemed laser guided. Tyler Ennis was first with a wrist shot that beat Anderson over the left shoulder. Ennis had maybe 6" square to shoot in. Then Nathan Gerbe wired in a slap shot to the top right corner of the net that was eerie as it was so reminescent of the types of goals scored by Richard Martin who had passed away a little earlier in the day.

A key player once again, Jason Spezza continues to impress the hell out of me with his play. He once again successfully banked a shot from behind the net for a goal, a trick he pulls all too often on Buffalo and on Pittsburgh.Spezz was also part of all the Sens scoring, netting two goals and assisting on Erik Karlsson's and Colin Greening's goals.

The Sens finally come back home to face the Penguins on Tuesday.

Neo's numbers


GO SENS GO!!

There's a strange debate happening out there. As the Sens win more and more games, there's a group of pundits who say the Senators are missing out on a great opportunity to have the first pick at the NHL entry draft next June.

It's a moot point for a few reasons. The first is the importance we place on the first round pick. For every John Tavares or Sidney Crosby, there's a Patrick Stefan or an Alexandre Daigle out there. First round draft pick doesn't guarantee anything. On the opposite end of the scale, there's the Daniel Alfredssons of the world who get drafted 133rd, or the Martin St-Louis who doesn't get drafted at all. Those are two players who turned out great nevertheless.

You also can't ask the players to throw games for the sake of the first round draft. The Senators are rebuilding their organization, and cashing in on the excitement of the newcomers. That excitement is translating into energy and commitment on the part of all the players. Asking the Senators to throw games is asking for too much.

Finally, there's the pride of accomplishment. What the Senators are accumulating right now in confidence will pay off in a team that will gel together more and moreover the rest of the season and the next. You can't buy that kind of chemistry, and a first round NHL draft pick is not worth the loss of that chemistry.

Besides, let's have a little faith in Bryan Murray (should he stay on board as I hope he does). He's loading up on draft picks and maybe, just maybe he can parlay those into a top pick in the first round of the draft.

GO SENS GO!!

Where was this team all season?? It wasn't in Ottawa that's for sure. The Senators are finally gelling and showing us some great and promising stuff.



Mind you, it's a good thing the Senators got 'er done in the first two periods. They were seriously out of steam in the third period. With all the penalties they had to kill, you could see them slowing down minute by minute. The game was over not a second too soon.

Nevertheless, it was a brilliant victory for the Sens. The Lightning are serious contenders for the post-season, currently sitting in 8th place overall. The 29th place Sens showed them that they are ready and primed for next year.

For the most part, the Senators kept it simple and that's what's been working for them. Jason Spezza got rewarded when he and Ryan Shannon crashed the net. Erik Karlsson got the helper by doing what he does best: putting a hard one on net. Of course, the goal by Bobby Butler was much prettier. The passes forced the Lightning defense to move laterally, and allowed Butler to sneak in behind. Butler sure has a great scoring touch, Dwayne Roloson never stood a chance.

Speaking of goalies, how about that Curtis McElhinney? A very good performance. He doesn't look as solid and composed as Neo Anderson in net, but damn if he didn't get the job done. I also love his mask (photo) which is a leftover from his Calgary Flames days showing his take on Dante's inferno. He truly was hell for the Lightning. Very cool stuff.

Stuff started going South in the third on a simple play by Jesse Winchester. He tried to do too much with a 2-on-1 break, and instead of shooting the puck - the simple play - he tried to feed a charging Shannon. This caused a turnover and a charge the other way, whcih drew two penalties and the rest is history. The KISS principle still applies: if you have an easy shot and a tough pass, go for the shot.

The Senators took a day off in Buffalo and it's a good thing. They sure need the rest. They are facing the Sabres tomorrow, and the Sabres are likely to come out craging (no pun intended) in a bid to protect their precarious position in the standings.

GO SENS GO!!