You can start the goaltending controversy in Ottawa after Alex Auld almost shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins in a dominating 3-1 win today. The Pens scored on Auld with one second remaining in the game but take nothing away from Auld as he was extremely solid compared to Martin Gerber yesterday. Auld played his angles really well, controlled his rebounds and was rarely caught out of position.
Dany Heatley led the way with two goals, his second of the game was a great one-timer as Daniel Alfredsson fed him with a beautiful pass. Maybe Heatley is going to elevate his game afterall by wearing the "A" as he even went down and sacrificed his body to block a shot on the PK and at the end of the first period he went after Brooks Orpik due to a questionable hit on Alfredsson. It was nice to see Heatley wear his emotion on his sleeve but stepping up and letting Pittsburgh know that you aren't going to go after the captain without consequence.
Chris Phillips also stepped in towards the end of the game when Matt Cooke went after Alfredsson. Phillips again let it be known that this Sens team is going to be tough to play against. Overall, in both instances it was very nice to see both alternate captains rise to the occasion.
Speaking of Alfredsson, he had a much stronger game playing with alot of energy and passion. He finished with two assists and logged the most icetime of all the forwards, only Filip Kuba had more icetime than the captain.
The Sens penalty kill was superb again as the Pittsburgh Penguins were 0 for 6 and a combined 0 for 13 on the powerplay.
Antoine Vermette finally decided to show up late in the game as he scored on a breakaway to completely seal the game for Ottawa. His linemates were incredible in shutting down the Sidney Crosby line. They held Crosby to one assist in both games.
On defense, Anton Volchenkov led the way with 6 hits, while Jason Smith had 3 blocked shots for the second consecutive game. Kuba comes away with the Sens scoring lead after registering 4 points in 2 games, he added two assists today while playing a much better game defensively than yesterday.
The Sens now head home after grabbing 3 of a possible 4 points in Sweden. Overall, it was a very successful week overseas and now Ottawa can rest up as they prepare for their home opener this coming Saturday when the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings come to town.
Pens fans, I have a few Winter Classic Jerseys in the powder blue that Pittsburgh wore last New Year's Day. Crosby and Malkin authentic prostyle jerseys with the tie downs. If interested in buying please e-mail me. These are extremely hard to come by!!
Lastly, NHL and NFL fans out there, I have a close friend who can get some Reebok jerseys at wholesale costs. I am not going to post every team and player that I can get but if you are interested or have a question please e-mail me or IM me here at Hockeybuzz. I will see what I can do for each of you! This is a great offer for all you hockeybuzz readers.
Be sure to check us out at www.sportstalkbuzz.com for all your other sports discussion. Live NFL discussion all day long while the games are in progress. As well, we are still searching for a Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings blogger in the NFL. If you are interested be sure to drop me an e-mail.
Kevin
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