GAME DAY: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators – 7:30PM EST, Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Montreal won. Boston won.

Pretty soon one of them will pass both us *and* Buffalo.

Elliott saved Cullen there.

Wow. Is it too late to start tanking? The Leafs are a team a playoff bound team should be beating.

So...8 points out of 9th with that team having a game in hand? It's absolutely possible that we're in 9th by this time next week. This team has lost whatever luck they were sporting in that Dung 11 game winning streak.

hemlock wrote:Wow. Is it too late to start tanking? The Leafs are a team a playoff bound team should be beating.

Before the game Clouston told the team to treat these last 13 games like the playoffs. Well, if they continue like this, these *will be the last 13 games* this year, period.

SpezDispenser wrote:So...8 points out of 9th with that team having a game in hand? It's absolutely possible that we're in 9th by this time next week. This team has lost whatever luck they were sporting in that Dung 11 game winning streak.

Who's ready to panic? I know *I* am.

Who's with me?

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:So...8 points out of 9th with that team having a game in hand? It's absolutely possible that we're in 9th by this time next week. This team has lost whatever luck they were sporting in that Dung 11 game winning streak.

Who's ready to panic? I know *I* am.

You should be. Everyone here should be, this team doesn't have a pulse. Add to that we have 3 of the most streakiest guys in the league in Fisher, Kovalev and Michalek and that spells deep trouble. God damn, time to call up St.Pierre, Keller and Hennesy, enough is enough.

3 games this week against teams that will miss the playoffs. Not a good start.

At least Foligno looked good. The timing was a bit off, but it will come. Sutton had a good game.

And yes....time to panic.

Matt Carkner's about to have a seat I think, he's not ready to play an entire NHL schedule. Although, Campoli is useless as Dung as well.

okay, I didn't think it could get worse than that vanouver game....burned again. This team should have come out with fire in their bellies, with something to prove to everyone, especially their cross provincial rivals. What an egg they laid tonight, this was downright embarassing. I really believe the senators might be finished unfortunately. What can Clouston do now??

btw, that was a terrible game for Kid Karlsson. That's two games in a row, where'd his confidence go?

Karlsson will be fine, it's okay for him to go through some rough times as a 19 year old child, but for the rest of this team to collectively shrug their shoulders and give up? Diddle you. The Leafs outshot us 16-9 in the 3rd. Way to try to come back.

Blah...so who sits next game? Winchester or Carkner? Both are USELESS right now - and that means moreso than some of the other diddlers out there. I'll vote Winchester and either put Donovan in there or call up Z.Smith.

how 'bout Kovalev? Its not like he feels like trying right now. Maybe seeing Montreal winning is eating him inside.

What the fudge happened to Michalek? That trade looks like a robbery for San Jose as of now.....Diddle I totally expected them to win tonight. Instead they laid a big ol' chocolate hot dog

What happened to this team being that "blue-collared" team? They simply get outworked almost every single game and they give up even more so if anything goes wrong. It shouldn't be a secret as to how you get out of a funk like this too. You just have to work even harder but they just aren't willing to do that and that's scary to me. it appears as though that 11 game win streak was merely a lucky hot streak now.

Just a frustrating time.

This has shades of two seasons ago where Ottawa limped into the playoffs and got swept by the Pengiuns. WTF is going on? Makes me sick.

Yeah, so frustrating.

Kovalev is hilariously as advertised by Canadiens fans. He's wildly inconsistent. Stretches of 20 games being invisible, then he'll single-handedly win you six straight. I have no idea anymore, I do think this season reminds me a lot of when we were swept by the Pens.

Sens4thecup wrote:This has shades of two seasons ago where Ottawa limped into the playoffs and got swept by the Pengiuns. WTF is going on? Makes me sick.

Yeah, I see the similarities as well. I have to go and...do something else. I'm really pissed at these guys right now.

Gustavsson was bobbling the puck all night, could not contain the rebound. Did we have anyone rushing the net? Nope. I think Alfie struggled today, but maybe he lost confidence in his teammates this game. Nobody moved their feet to get open....unbelievably frustrating game to watch.

Worst game for Spezza IMO since olympic break. Get Winchester out, put Chummy back in. Our only hope is the resurgence of Kuba...and that itself means we're screwed.

Sigh...I'll have to discuss this tomorrow morning. Right now I'm way too negative/pissed off

Can't believe I missed Lost in HD because of this. When there's no words to describe, you gotta go with the pics:

From a Devils fan, here is my perspective.

Right now your team is battling for 3rd, 4th or 5th, but really if you take out that massive 14/16 streak in January and sub in a .500 record for those games they would be right were everyone thought they should be. around 7th 8th or 9th.

Yes the winning streak was great, and showed what they were capable of, but my dad had a saying he used to give me growing up. When I got hot and was playing really well, he'd say your not as good as you think you are right now, then when I was struggling he'd say your better than you think you are right now.

My point? Well, the Sens are better than they appear right now, but they are not as good as they were when they were winning. At the beginning of the year if I'd told you they would be 5th and in position to make the playoffs with 15 games left not a single one of you would have turned that down.

Now some of you are depressed with how they are playing. Remember how we all believe this was part of a mini rebuilding year? Why after a 10 game winning streak should that change?

Take a deep breath and enjoy this year for what it's worth. Ottawa will likely make the playoffs and if they win a round then great, if not, so be it, but remember where you all thought they would finish and consider this gravy.

Devo

The fact is the team gets lazy everytime they think they are too good, which is what happened after the winning streak. Has been like that since the dawn of time.

When someone dump the puck in and nobody's there to retrieve it, do you find that normal? NObody's playing a team game, appart from Spezza may be.

EDIT: THe loss against Vancouver was because the better team took control. TOnight's loss: laziness.

Anyways, if Clouston is smart enough, he puts the Kelly - Ruutu - Neil line back. At least they know what their role is. Right now nobody knows what their role is. ONly line that looked good tonight was Spezza and FOligno. Foligno knew what kind of plays he will get from Spezza. THe other players didn't look like they had teammates.

That was another sad, sad performance.

Devo wrote:From a Devils fan, here is my perspective.

Right now your team is battling for 3rd, 4th or 5th, but really if you take out that massive 14/16 streak in January and sub in a .500 record for those games they would be right were everyone thought they should be. around 7th 8th or 9th.

Yes the winning streak was great, and showed what they were capable of, but my dad had a saying he used to give me growing up. When I got hot and was playing really well, he'd say your not as good as you think you are right now, then when I was struggling he'd say your better than you think you are right now.

My point? Well, the Sens are better than they appear right now, but they are not as good as they were when they were winning. At the beginning of the year if I'd told you they would be 5th and in position to make the playoffs with 15 games left not a single one of you would have turned that down.

Now some of you are depressed with how they are playing. Remember how we all believe this was part of a mini rebuilding year? Why after a 10 game winning streak should that change?

Take a deep breath and enjoy this year for what it's worth. Ottawa will likely make the playoffs and if they win a round then great, if not, so be it, but remember where you all thought they would finish and consider this gravy.

Devo

Such ridiculous logic, I don't even know why people bother writing it down.
Let me counter with your logic...but really if you take away that five game losing streak they had before the winning streak and replace it with a .500 record, they'd be in first place in the division right now.
Stunning logic I've gotta say.

Anyhow, I think the Sens are playing like they all just met and never played together before.
There's no set up plays on the PP. They just skate around until someone is available. I don't know what they do in practice, but if you come out on the PP and still has to think that much, there's a problem with the coaching staff.

its work ethic and heart. you can't coach it and you can't buy it, you have to show it-and this team right now is not even close.

to loose to the second worse team in your own building, and a rival at that-pathetic.

i for one, am not at all surprised. kovalev is no surprise either, and i hate to say "i told you so". this is the team of the last 2 years. hot all at the same time cold in a bunch. i don't believe this team is anything close of a contender.

Note to Leaf fans:

na na na na...na na na na...hey hey hey good bye -

1- The above is reserved for playoff series winning games not meaningless regular season games.

2 - I realize you may have forgotten rule number 1 since the last playoff game the Leafs played in was 2004 but, do you not see the irony in a non-playoff bound teams fan base singing that tune to a playoff bound team?

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Note to Leaf fans:

na na na na...na na na na...hey hey hey good bye -

1- The above is reserved for playoff series winning games not meaningless regular season games.

2 - I realize you may have forgotten rule number 1 since the last playoff game the Leafs played in was 2004 but, do you not see the irony in a non-playoff bound teams fan base singing that tune to a playoff bound team?

As much as I can't stand the fact that there are more (louder?) Leafs fans than Sens fans at out home games, until this team starts looking like they care, I'm not sure I want to get all worked up.

I think it's time to bring Cheechoo back. No, he's not the solution, but he deserves the ice time about as much as the others.

Is Regin still playing? I don't remember hearing anything about him (good or bad) over this entire stretch. At least with Winchester I've heard Neely say he's become useless, and he actually got sat out once, I think.

PKC wrote:

Such ridiculous logic, I don't even know why people bother writing it down.
Let me counter with your logic...but really if you take away that five game losing streak they had before the winning streak and replace it with a .500 record, they'd be in first place in the division right now.
Stunning logic I've gotta say.

I stand corrected...this team is one of the elite teams in the NHL....they are not only a lock to make the playoffs, but are in fact a lock to make it to the conference final...obviously the winning streak was the team everyone was hoping for and the .500 play for most of the year and the 2 4+ game losing streaks are just minor blips on what should be a 100 point season for this outstanding team...


Save your response, I guess your brilliant words are lost on someone with ridiculous logic.

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Note to Leaf fans:

na na na na...na na na na...hey hey hey good bye -

1- The above is reserved for playoff series winning games not meaningless regular season games.

2 - I realize you may have forgotten rule number 1 since the last playoff game the Leafs played in was 2004 but, do you not see the irony in a non-playoff bound teams fan base singing that tune to a playoff bound team?

As much as I can't stand the fact that there are more (louder?) Leafs fans than Sens fans at out home games, until this team starts looking like they care, I'm not sure I want to get all worked up.

I think it's time to bring Cheechoo back. No, he's not the solution, but he deserves the ice time about as much as the others.

Is Regin still playing? I don't remember hearing anything about him (good or bad) over this entire stretch. At least with Winchester I've heard Neely say he's become useless, and he actually got sat out once, I think.

Is there enough cap space to bring him up right now though? I heard on the post game show that Murray had said he'd bring him back up in time for the playoffs since the cap is not an issue at that point.

Was I the only one that noticed they had both Foligno and Campoli out on the ice together early on in the game? Why would Clouston have two out of five players on the ice together who clearly had timing issues early in the game?

I remember one shift in particular where Foligno was bobbling and mishandling the puck in the offensive zone and then about 20 seconds later Campoli was doing the same thing in the D zone. Funnily enough he was trying to get the puck back to Foligno of all players.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Was I the only one that noticed they had both Foligno and Campoli out on the ice together early on in the game? Why would Clouston have two out of five players on the ice together who clearly had timing issues early in the game?

I remember one shift in particular where Foligno was bobbling and mishandling the puck in the offensive zone and then about 20 seconds later Campoli was doing the same thing in the D zone. Funnily enough he was trying to get the puck back to Foligno of all players.

Edit: I know it can't always be avoided but it was in the first period and both of them had missed significant time due to injury.

They are over the cap without applying the bonus cushion. IIRC by about $160K or something in that neighborhood. The bonus cushion (if used) gives them around $800K. Cheechoo's cap for the remaining 12 games would be $439K.

The thing to keep in mind, though, is that the bonus cushion is not free money. Eventually it has to be applied to the cap. If we bring Cheechoo back it will cost us roughly $500K next season (very roughly) unless we demote one or two players.

Winchester is on a one-way but, then again, so is Cheechoo. At this point, none of them should feel safe about getting sent down. Regin and Winchester would be my prime targets for a little "Let's try to remember why we need to play harder" trip to Bingo. Couple of weeks should do it. In the meantime, bring Cheechoo back up.

I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

RobbyJ wrote:I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

Even during their 11 game winning streak I didn't expect a Conference final for this team. I was thinking second round with a 3rd place finish in the Conference was a distinct possibility though. Now I'm thinking it will be tough to hang onto 5th and a first round knock out is a distinct possibility if not a guarantee should we face Washington or Pittsburgh in round 1.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

Even during their 11 game winning streak I didn't expect a Conference final for this team. I was thinking second round with a 3rd place finish in the Conference was a distinct possibility though. Now I'm thinking it will be tough to hang onto 5th and a first round knock out is a distinct possibility if not a guarantee should we face Washington or Pittsburgh in round 1.

I wasn't speaking necessarily of the members here, more of the pathetic fanbase in the city as a whole.

RobbyJ wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:I must have watched a different game than most of you. Other than the first 10 minutes I thought the Sens were okay if not good. They generated lots of chances that never even became shots on goal. The guys are obviously at a very low confidence level, but from what I saw last night I think this streak is about to turn around. I would not be shocked to see the guys win 3 in a row and have this fickle fanbase taking Conference Final again.

Even during their 11 game winning streak I didn't expect a Conference final for this team. I was thinking second round with a 3rd place finish in the Conference was a distinct possibility though. Now I'm thinking it will be tough to hang onto 5th and a first round knock out is a distinct possibility if not a guarantee should we face Washington or Pittsburgh in round 1.

I wasn't speaking necessarily of the members here, more of the pathetic fanbase in the city as a whole.

True enough. It's not just the fan base it's the media as well.

I'm still not convinced about this Capitals team. They've had it too easy in the regular season, and I think they will find the post-season (2nd round and later) very tough.

Montreal is playing very well, lately. They've been plagued with injuries all year, but have found a way to stick around long enough for the IR list to shrink to a manageable size. They've solidified their playoff position and are just one point behind Ottawa. If you plot their trajectory versus Buffalo's it's clear that they can soon end up as the third seed.

And Cammalleri is not back in the lineup *yet*.

How well did Ovechkin do against Halak in the Olympics? One goal in the shootout in a 2-1 loss. And Halak will have more NHL players with him this time around.

At this point, I don't think the Sens are a threat to anyone, frankly. Montreal, on the other hand, if I was Washington or Pittsburgh, I'd be concerned.

I agree with you on Washington. I believe they'll make it out of round 1 but that's as far as I see them going.