The Ottawa Senators played conservative hockey in the third period and it led to their demise tonight as the Thrashers scored three unanswered goals for a 4-2 win.
It has to be frustrating for Senators fans to watch your team get eleven shots on goal in the first period only to get twelve shots over the last two periods and have very few scoring chances.
The Thrashers defense was pinching in right from the opening seconds of the third period creating many scoring chances but the Senators could not convert on the odd man rushes. The three on one Ottawa had early in the third period when they still led the game 2-1, could have been a huge goal had they converted. Instead, that was one of the few chances the Sens had the entire third period.
Even after the Thrashers went ahead 3-2, the Senators did not play desperate hockey until the last minute of the game when it was 4-2 and much too late for any type of comeback.
Wade Redden continues to struggle but this might have been his worst game of the season when he was guilty of not moving his feet which led to the Thrashers second goal. His defense partner Andrei Meszaros was not much better either in many defensive situations.
The Thrashers forwards had their way with Redden as they skated around him numerous times creating endless scoring chances. Redden continues to poke check the oppositions forwards with his stick rather than take the forward wide and ride him into the boards by taking him out of the play. He has gone out of his way to avoid physical contact and this has to be a major concern to the coaching staff. Redden and Meszaros were each a minus three which needs to change fast over the last month of the season.
The line of Mike Fisher, Chris Neil and Peter Schaefer was by far the worst line of the night going a combined minus eight in the plus/minus department. Schaefer and Neil continued their inconsistent play which is really starting to get long in the tooth.
Oleg Saprykin was a non-factor tonight and has done very little if anything in his first two games as a Senator.
Why Christoph Schubert is not playing in place of Joe Corvo on defense is mesmerizing when you have Patrick Eaves as a healthy scratch who can fill in nicely on the fourth line. Corvo's defensive game has been average at best this season and he got beat badly on the Thrashers fourth goal. The coaching staff needs to make this change now!
Bottom line is the Senators veterans were not their best players tonight and this can not happen when the oppositions veterans are their best players.
The list is endless tonight with Hossa, Kovalchuk, Zhitnik, Kozlov, Tkachuk, DeVries, Holik, Mellanby and Belanger as they all stepped up their game when it counted most. What do many of these players have in common? Three players on that list have won Stanley Cups while the others have at least 600 plus game experience outside of Kovalchuk who has close to 400 games experience.
You can count on one hand tonight the amount of Senators players who decided to show up. This can not happen at this time of year when you are fighting for playoff positioning.
Atlanta went out and grabbed the two points tonight because it wanted it more, plain and simple. In the process, Ottawa took the night off, something Sens fans have seen way too much in the late part of the season in years past. Lets hope Sunday afternoon in Chicago the Senators bring the effort required for a victory otherwise Martin Havlat will light up the scoreboard as he would love nothing more than sticking it to his former team.
Kevin
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