Ottawa Senators

[Bomm Bastic]

Props to Lehner. Nice to see him win one, and w/ 25 shots against - modest amount, but certainly not a light load.

[wendelclark17]

Great game by Lehner .... made the big stops when he needed to. Ottawa is a much improved team since the last time the leafs played them. More cohesive unit and better play in front of the goalie. The Sens third goal was extremely weak gotta give credit to Daugavins for a great play to strip Lombardi, but it shouldnt have been let in.

[Big Ev]

Great game last night by the Sens. Sixth win a row.

The best Sens were Karlsson, Greening, and Zack Smith.

Karlsson now leads all NHL d-men in points with 13 in 12 games. Still only 1 goal though. pick it up Karlsson, you're disappointing me.

I have hyped up Greening many times this year and he came through yet again. He is just a solid player. 8 points in 12 games. He's a 25 year old, but he is Calder eligible and is creeping up to RNH. Some of his qualities:

a) has the second hardest shot on the team
b) is the fastest skater on the team
c) screens the goalie at every opportunity on the PP
d) works his ass off on every single shift, battles in the corners, back checks etc. and
e) is incredibly smart having had a ridiculous GPA (cant recall the exact number now) at Cornell during his college career. It shows on the ice. Good hockey sense.

I think he COULD hit 40 this year if everything continues to go right, but I'm not sure that number is truly attainable. Either way, he is developing into a very nice Top 6 power forward. We'll see where he is at 2 years down the line though, might be a 3rd liner when all is said and done.

Spezza was pretty good as well, at both ends of the rink, but couldn't get on the scoresheet.

Gonchar extended his point streak to 5 games and now has 9 assists in 11 games.

Zack Smith is another guy who busts his ass every shift and plays a solid game. No fantasy value but will be a good third line centre down the line. Had arguably his best game ever.

Robin Lehner was good in his 2nd NHL win. Didn't have to work too hard but made some clutch saves, as the previous posters have mentioned.

Nikita Filatov played 5 minutes in his first game since being recalled. Not sure if this recall is actually a lengthy one, or if they just played him over Konopka because they figured they might as well since he was there. Either way, they will not be using him on the 4th line with 5 minutes of ice time every game, or else it's back to Bingo for more playing time (which they should do IMO). Right now there is no room for him on this team if they are gonna use Butler in Alfie's place.

Alfredsson will not travel to Boston tomorrow. Most likely has a concussion.

And how could I not mention David Rundblad's hail mary pass to Colin Greening?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ttjQRKa3IA

All for now.

[Big Ev]

Also, just wanted to add that I will point out players when they are playing poorly. It's just no happening right now in Sens land.

Actually Bobby Butler didn't do anything at all in his return to the lineup. Hopefully he can pot one to gain some confidence. If he ain't scoring he ain't doing much.

The two whipping boys from last year - Kuba and Gonchar - have turned their games around big time. Kuba has as many goals as he had ALL of last year (2).

[Big Ev]

Game 13 - Sens @ Bruins

Lineup:

Greening-Spezza-Michalek
Foligno-Da Costa-Butler
Condra-Smith-Neil
Filatov-Winchester-Konopka

Kuba-Karlsson
Cowen-Gonchar
Phillips-Rundblad

Anderson

[duballstar014]

Sens are playing damn good hockey. I didn't expect Michalek to score 13 points until December yet here he is with 13 in only 12 games. Solid turnaround from the last two seasons.

[Big Ev]

Ottawa loses 5-3 @ Boston.

Only pretty good players in my eyes were Anderson, Foligno, Da Costa, Kuba, and Cowen. Everyone else was pretty bad. Give credit to the Bruins for playing like Cup champs.

Anderson gave up 5 but he was there when he needed to be and kept them in it. Obvioulsy 5 isn't a good # to give up for fantasy or real life, but you can't pin the loss on him.

David Rundblad had his worst game as a Sen. Just poor decision making and positioning. Lacked confidence. Was falling all over the ice. He might be in the press box on Friday because they would love to put Brian Lee back in the lineup.

Da Costa and Foligno were pretty good together in limited action (12 minutes. Da Costa finished with 2 points and Folingo finished with 3. Foligno was the best Senator forward.

Nikita Filatov was limited to 4th line duties again and got 6 minutes of ice time. Still don't know why they called him up. He needs to go back to Binghamton, hopefully when Daugavins comes back from wisdom tooth surgery.

Jared Cowen scored his 1st NHL goal in the loss. Was good defensively as well.

Erik Karlsson was brutal. Just an off-night offensively and defensively for the young Swede.

Next game Friday vs Montreal.

[DanMartin]

On the Michalek - Spezza - Greening line, which wing is Michalek playing. I know he and Greening are both typically LW. My league uses true positions, so I'd like to get a handle on where they're actually playing.

Thanks!!

[Big Ev]

On the Michalek - Spezza - Greening line, which wing is Michalek playing. I know he and Greening are both typically LW. My league uses true positions, so I'd like to get a handle on where they're actually playing.

Thanks!!

I'm pretty sure Michalek is the RW, but they seem to change it up.

[Big Ev]

Habs @ Sens tonight


Lineup

Michalek-Spezza-Greening
Foligno-Da Costa-Butler
Daugavins-Smith-Neil
Filatov-Winchester-Condra

Kuba-Karlsson
Cowen-Gonchar
Phillips-Lee

Anderson

Notes

-Rundblad out, Lee in
-Daugavins back from dental surgery --> Konopka out

[Big Ev]

Nothing much happened last night. Zack Smith with a SH goal. That's about it. Anderson was good and will make another start tonight.

Sabres @ Sens

Lineup

Michalek-Spezza-Greening
Foligno-Da Costa-Butler
Daugavins-Smith-Neil
Filatov-Winchester-Condra

Kuba-Karlsson
Cowen-Gonchar
Phillips-Lee

Anderson

Notes

-Lee will still be in. Rundblad healthy scratch. (This is unless they make a late decision before the game).

[Bomm Bastic]

Rather stirring U.S.National Anthem.

Thank you, Ottawa.

[Big Ev]

Filatov back to Binghamton again. Thank you. Shouldn't have been up in the first place.

[2 Minutes For Bearding]

Filatov back to Binghamton again. Thank you. Shouldn't have been up in the first place.

hi big ev. do you realistically see filatov topping 20 points this year without some major injuries? i havent been able to watch alot of games but when he is with the big club his ice time is slim and he doesnt seem to be getting his nose dirty, in true filatov fashion. in fact, from some of his comments regarding his pals in binghamton it almost seems as he prefers riding the bus with his chums...

[thorbs]

Can anyone give me the lowdown on Zack Smith? I've only watched a couple OTT games but he seems like a prototypical 3rd line guy...works his bag off, throws the body around and isn't afraid to drop em, and should put in 30 - 40 points?