(Source: Yahoo Sports)So, the title of this post is probably misleading. It implies that we slew the beast, that David triumphed over Goliath once again. Alas, this wasn't the case in tonight's game, but I still believe that the Sens accomplished something. The boys sent the Bruins to a shootout, which I'm betting is something a lot of other teams haven't done. And, if Brendan Bell's shot had trickled just a hare to the right ... the fairy tale would have been complete.
Look, I'll be honest. I went into this game expecting nothing less than a massacre. It would be 17-0 in favour of Boston by the five-minute mark, I promised my boyfriend. This wasn't pessimistic thinking so much as it was realistic thinking. The Bruins, as we were reminded numerous times throughout the evening, are exactly 41 points ahead of the Senators in the standings. They have 43 road points, which is two more than the number of points Ottawa has altogether. They've lost only 8 games in regulation time this season. On Tuesday afternoon at 2:05 p.m., Tim Thomas was spotted walking on water. Etc., etc., ad infinitum. The way the commentators were talking, it would've been better for us just to concede this game before the puck was even dropped. The bragging (I really can't call it anything else) was especially bad on TSN, to the point where I had to turn it down and listen to the radio commentary. I just couldn't take it anymore.
But I've got to be equally honest where Ottawa's concerned and say, you know what? We looked good! We did! Better than we have in perhaps the last two weeks! There seems to be a lot more organization among the troops now, and they're taking a hell of a lot more chances than they did at any point under Craig Hartsburg. I firmly believe that had it not been for a couple bad bounces, we could have won the game against the Kings. I mean, how many times have you seen Dany Heatley miss on a point-blank shot? But seriously, the hockey gods are turning, if only temporarily, in our favour. It showed tonight.
In particular, Daniel Alfredsson was Mr. Everything tonight - making defensive plays, contributing to offense (he got one goal, making for 15 on the season) and just generally being awesome. I sure hope Nick Foligno never changes, either. He scored a spectacular goal off a one-man effort in which he dodged two of the Bruins' defense and just managed to slip the puck underneath Thomas. I love his celebrations, too.
The first period was a bit iffy, but overall the Sens matched the Bruins stride-for-stride. They even had a 3-2 lead in the third, which looked like it might stand up until Antoine Vermette took a four-minute penalty for high sticking Michael Ryder. I can't really complain about that - you have to be in control of your stick, and Ryder was definitely injured. Still, it resulted in Boston's tying goal, after which the game went into overtime and then a shootout when five minutes of sudden death settled nothing.
Two things I'm puzzling over, though. First, the trend of putting Alfie, Heater and Jason Spezza on shootouts as the first three choices. It happened under Hartsburg and it's now continuing under Cory Clouston. Some have argued that if you're going to win, you have to do it with your best players, but what happens if they aren't the best in the shootout? These guys suck at shootouts. Blunt, perhaps, but true. So why in heck do they keep getting thrown out there? Put Vermette in the starters. Put in Bell! Just stop shooting yourself in the foot (heh) with guys you know won't score in the shootout. Seems like elementary logic to me.
Second, TSN. I usually complain about commentating as much as I complain about refing, which is not terribly often, but as I said earlier, this deserves special mention. TSN is usually kind of obnoxious when it comes to discussing the Senators, but I think it reached new levels tonight. They took every single opportunity they could to cite statistics about how terrible the team is this season. Every. Single. One. And yes, I know we are bad, and this is so going to sound like sour grapes, but really. They never talked about us when we were good, but now that we're bad? Oh, all of a sudden that's front page news! James Duthie even trotted out an obscure stat from the 1930s in order to question whether or not Clouston would become the second coach in NHL history to be shut out in the first two games of their debut. First of all, unbelievable stat is patently unbelievable - has no other new coach ever been shut out in the first two games? Ever?? And secondly, why all the bashing? Do they think it makes them look good or something? Do they have some sort of vendetta against Ottawa? It's truly puzzling to me.
Anyway. This game may not necessarily be a symptom that we've turned a corner. It may just be the lone bright spot in a long dark tunnel. But it made me feel better about the whole thing, and like maybe, just maybe, this horrific run of bad luck might end some day. Here's hoping!
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