Obviously, a game to forget for Ottawa.
It seemed as if the Senators went in to Philadelphia intent on playing the perfect road game - laying back and waiting for the Flyers to get frustrated.
That's a good recipe if you have a solid defense core that can put bodies on Flyers forwards.
Unfortunately, Ottawa's defence is missing Anton Volchenkov and features the likes of Chris Campoli, Alex Picard and Brian Lee.
Can you imagine going into a hard fought, blood and guts playoff series with those 3 players on your back end? Against a team of men like the Flyers? No chance. You can't even mention the Stanley Cup in the same sentence.
Somehow, Cory Clouston found 24 minutes to give to Alex Picard. That was the highest ice time mark on the Senators. Higher than Chris Phillips. Higher than Filip Kuba.
So what is going on here?
Another head scratcher is Clouston's unwillingness to dress Shean Donovan, a player who at least gives a damn about what he gives on the ice. He was part of a very effective fourth line which was helping the Senators win games early in the season. He won't be the difference between winning and losing, but the Senators seem to perform better when he's in the lineup giving his all on limited shifts.
You can point the finger at Pascal Leclaire and Alex Kovalev for having another bad game but to me, the Senators are carrying an inept set of defenseman who have zero defensive acumen and zero character on the ice. They simply don't register against a character team like Philadelphia. Yet Campoli and Picard seem like they are here to stay because of their cheap contracts and their supposed "offensive ability".
In short, the Senators were outclassed by a much better Philadelphia team tonight. When Alex Picard plays almost two more minutes than both Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timmonen, you know the Senators are in deep trouble here.
So what is Bryan Murray going to do?
If you take him at his word, he's not even concerned about his defenseman. He says the Senators need another forward.
Oh brother.
Black Aces Senators 3 Stars
1. Ray Emery (still being paid by the Senators to beat them)
2. Jason Spezza
3. Mike Fisher
4 comments:
You can point the finger at Pascal Leclaire and Alex Kovalev for having another bad game but to me, the Senators are carrying an inept set of defenseman who have zero defensive acumen and zero character on the ice.
Bingo. Besides Fisher and Spezza, the Sens were second to every puck, and lost most of their 1 on 1 battles. They looked passive and tired. Kovalev, oh man. Shades of Jason Allison, he looked as if he were dragging a wagon behind him, filled with casks of beer. Dude has no jump right now.
With Picard playing so many minutes, I can't help but think that Canucnik is secretly running the Senators.
Call me crazy, but I think that they are showcasing Picard. It's the only thing that makes sense.
They have too many d-men, so someone needs to be moved eventually. I think that they are giving Picard every opportunity to get better so that another team will give them a good return in a trade.
If that is the plan, it's not working. That's the only thing I can think of. You'd figure that against a strong team like Philly, your top guys would get the most minutes.
We need a top talent on the back-end.
I could not be happier for Ray. I was cheering for him. Glad he played well.
@anon:
I think you're right, and they are trying to move Picard by showing folks what he can do. Unfortunately, he's showing everyone in the league what he can do.
With the possible exception of Barker, I'm not sure who's available in a trade. I can't see the Niedermeyer rumours coming true, but it might be a nice stop-gap solution for the Senators defense this year. If they could acquire him, it would really help steady the defense and also serve as a competent mentorship program for Lee / Karlsson.
I have been saying this for weeks _ Leclaire is crap. sure people disagree, but a night like last night illustrates how vulnerable he is to poor poor goals. he is not a playoff goalie - he can not be trusted.
if he continues like this the team will fold and give up trying all together.
way to go razor, great effort last night.
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