What a difference one night makes! That is exactly what many Sens fans were feeling after witnessing a 3-1 Ottawa win at Scotiabank Place on Saturday night.
After an embarassing performance by Ottawa in Montreal the night before, this Sens line-up knew anything short of a win against an AHL type Canadiens squad would have fans in this city harbouring serious doubts about this years team.
It certainly doesn't hurt when your two biggest leaders on the team returned to action in the back end of the home and home with Montreal. Captain Daniel Alfredsson and alternate captain Chris Phillips led by example as always with Alfredsson scoring a breakaway goal in the last few minutes of the second period. What makes Friday nights performance by Ottawa even more disturbing is that the so-called leaders from that line-up, Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley, demonstrated how far they have to go in becoming true leaders on this team. I am not talking about leading on the scoreboard, but leading by example on the ice in all facets of the game when key players aren't dressed. It shouldn't take the presence of Alfredsson and Phillips to make these players accountable, but for Spezza and Heatley that is exactly what took place on Saturday night as they followed the lead of their captain. Heatley has no business wearing an "A" when the season begins. I will post a blog on this hot topic later in the week.
Chris Neil continued his fine pre-season play by scoring his third goal of the season, while leading by example on the ice. Are you listening Spezza and Heatley? I must say, I am quite surprised by the returned energy and excitement that Neil has brought to the team but it is something that this team will need from him on a consistent basis. Neil showed no signs of fatigue playing his third game in four nights. The third line of Neil, Jarkko Ruutu and Cody Bass were extremely effective all game long. This will be one of the toughest third lines to play against in the NHL this year.
Nick Foligno finally realized that the pre-season had begun by enjoying his best game of the exibition season. Foligno had a highlight reel goal by undressing Mike Komisarek. It will be interesting to see where Foligno plays to start the season. With head coach Craig Hartsburg reuniting Alfredsson with Spezza and Heatley, it leaves Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette to play with Mike Fisher when he returns from injury. At least you would think so, but where does that Jesse Winchester? That would put Foligno on the fourth line with two of either Shean Donovan, Dean McAmmond or Winchester. One of these guys will be the 13th forward.
When looking at the Sens defense a bizarre situation occurred prior to the game when GM Bryan Murray signed Luke Richardson to a one year, two way deal. So many fans and hockey experts were quick to jump on Brendan Bell's giveaway on Wednesday night. But it was Richardson who was on the ice for two Habs goals on Friday night which were a result of his foot speed and being out of position, yet it seems as though management were willing to let that go and sign the veteran while sending Bell down to their AHL affliliate in Binghamton. Bell got the raw end of the deal in all of this and deserved to be with the team heading to Sweden to prove his worth. Why Richardson is being kept around is quite ridiculous. Lets not forget it was just five months ago that management made the youth movement and made Richardson a healthy scratch the last few games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. If this decision has you scratching your head, it should. How can Murray justify this signing? Bell outperformed Richardson and looked to be on par with Alexandre Picard who played two pre-season games. Picard made a similar mistake as Bell in the pre-season opener and looked very average in his two games. I guess it pays to be Picard on a one way deal, rather than a two way deal like Bell. I hope Bell goes down to Binghamton and works his tail off for a chance at being called up later in the season. The homegrown product deserved far better than the way this entire situation played out.
The big question mark on defense now is the status of Christoph Schubert. Will he be in the top six on defense next weekend when the regular season starts for Ottawa? Time will tell I guess. We have all week long to analyze this and many other topics as Ottawa leaves tonight to fly to Sweden for one last pre-season contest on Thursday night before opening the regular season on Saturday.
Zack Smith was the last cut by Murray on Saturday night. Smith had a very strong camp and has a very promising future in the NHL.
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Kevin
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