Pre-Game Talk: SENS take a bite out of the big Apple, Sunday 7:00 pm on SN

[Burrowsaurus]

What's funny is that the last three games haven't been all that bad.

Ottawa should have won the game against Phoenix.

Against Pittsburgh and NY, they were essentially one-goal games where the opposition scored first. We've been actually pretty good at getting leads this year. Holding them has been the problem.

A PP that actually scored a goal or two and a Condon who wasn't doing his best impression of a curling rock and we're 3-0.

That's why I'm loathe to throw everything out, change the system, change everything, trade everyone, Duchene sucks. It's just not that bad.

Yet.

THe first period against pens was good.

I don't know how you like our game against the yotes.

Last night was abysmal

 

[NyQuil]

THe first period against pens was good.

I don't know how you like our game against the yotes.

Last night was abysmal

The game was well in hand against Phoenix - they rarely threatened at all, we had the lead.

I had two gripes in the Coyotes game:
1. Condon.
2. PP.

We had our chances against the Rangers but didn't capitalize. Same with Pittsburgh.

Ultimately they were close games that required empty net goals.

I certainly didn't like the effort level in that Rangers games and I hope it isn't a sign of games to come because we have 19 back-to-back situations this year.

 

[Tuna99]

THe first period against pens was good.

I don't know how you like our game against the yotes.

Last night was abysmal

Win or lose my reason for concern is that deep confidence / belief of the team isn’t there this year. We’ve seen it in spurts here and there, but overall I haven’t see them play a game recently where I believed that the players believed they’d win.

And Boucher has alluded to this ‘push back’ and it not showing up. A 3 game losing streak happens, but the men on the ice haven’t shown the intanglible confidence in the systems they showed last year

 

[BondraTime]

Not that I entirely disagree with you, I'm not a fan of how we've played in the third, adjustments need to be made, but to suggest that it's as easy as playing the 3rd the same way as you play the 1st ignores that the opposition doesn't typically play the same way in the 3rd as it does in the first (particularly when they are trailing in the third).

Of course teams adjust in the 3rd if they are down, they begin to turn up the intensity.

We completely shut our intensity off when we are up. Literally.

That's the reason we are losing so many leads. The other team gets the momentum, and builds off that, while we are playing a lifeless brand of 3rd period hockey. They get a goal, and we are at a standstill.

 

[Tuna99]

The team looks impatient and frustrated to me. Not calm and willing to play to minute 60. They seem to want to win every game in the first 10 minutes and when it doesn’t go their way they get down on themselves - especially after failed PP’s.

 

[NyQuil]

Of course teams adjust in the 3rd if they are down, they begin to turn up the intensity.

We completely shut our intensity off when we are up. Literally.

That's the reason we are losing so many leads. The other team gets the momentum, and builds off that, while we are playing a lifeless brand of 3rd period hockey. They get a goal, and we are at a standstill.

It's funny, because I've been impressed with our quick starts this year.

We've had seasons where we never get the lead, and we're "always playing catch-up" and "letting them dictate the pace of the game".

Now, of course, we stink in the 3rd period.

Ultimately though, a better PP and better goaltending and we're sitting pretty right now.

 

[BondraTime]

It's funny, because I've been impressed with our quick starts this year.

We've had seasons where we never get the lead, and we're "always playing catch-up" and "letting them dictate the pace of the game".

Now, of course, we stink in the 3rd period.

Ultimately though, a better PP and better goaltending and we're sitting pretty right now.

Remember the Pesky Sens? Literally couldn't count them out. They would come out and wreak havoc in the third. Gain momentum, and end games in OT. The Pittsburgh game where Hoff tied it with 40 seconds left and Stone won it in OT to keep the playoff dream going stands out.

Play the third the same way you start the first. It's a 0-0 game, 20 more miles to go and you want to be up at the end of those miles.

We shouldn't be looking at it as "we are up 2-0, we want to keep them from scoring twice, lets hanker down".

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

The team looks impatient and frustrated to me. Not calm and willing to play to minute 60. They seem to want to win every game in the first 10 minutes and when it doesn’t go their way they get down on themselves - especially after failed PP’s.

I get the feeling they go hard for the first period or parts of it so they can get the lead and play trap hockey for the rest of the game. They don't seem very good at playing while trailing

 

[umma gumma]

Remember the Pesky Sens? Literally couldn't count them out. They would come out and wreak havoc in the third. Gain momentum, and end games in OT. The Pittsburgh game where Hoff tied it with 40 seconds left and Stone won it in OT to keep the playoff dream going stands out.

Play the third the same way you start the first. It's a 0-0 game, 20 more miles to go and you want to be up at the end of those miles.

We shouldn't be looking at it as "we are up 2-0, we want to keep them from scoring twice, lets hanker down".

I feel the exact same way. Should be treating every shift like its 0-0.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

Remember the Pesky Sens? Literally couldn't count them out. They would come out and wreak havoc in the third. Gain momentum, and end games in OT. The Pittsburgh game where Hoff tied it with 40 seconds left and Stone won it in OT to keep the playoff dream going stands out.

Play the third the same way you start the first. It's a 0-0 game, 20 more miles to go and you want to be up at the end of those miles.

We shouldn't be looking at it as "we are up 2-0, we want to keep them from scoring twice, lets hanker down".

Pesky Sens was not a viable long term playing style. They were literally gassed come playoffs

 

[BondraTime]

Pesky Sens was not a viable long term playing style. They were literally gassed come playoffs

You don't need to play "The Pesky Sens" style for an 82 game schedule. We were so far behind the 8 ball that season we were playing must win games since January.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

I think the Senators management has a better grip on how the development of Chabot is coming along, in the AHL.

They've called up Harpur a few times now, over Chabot, and with 15 regular season games, and 9 playoff games under his belt, he will be called up again, over Chabot, until Senators management determines whether Chabot is needed at the NHL level, and the "role" he needs to fill at that level.

Someone pointed out that with Wideman possibly gone for the Season, Chabot looks like the logical replacement ............ when Senators management feels he's ready.

So management is right. Only until they are right again?

You know it could be that Boucher simply does not want some inexperience back there. Doesn't want chabot on the left side in his system. We may not see chabot consistently until boucher is gone.

Exaggeration maybe. But there's More to this than "he's not here because management knows better than everyone else and they're so slick and sly that every move they make with him is correct and furthering his development".

 

[NyQuil]

Sometimes the team loses because the players don't play very well.

 

[Jorge Garcia]

...

Boucher can't just rely on putting Karlsson on the ice anymore, at least not for the foreseeable future. Time to stop being the boring trap team. Time to take the reigns off the offense. Give opponents a new look that they haven't prepped for.

I thought Ottawa got into a track meet in the first period against the mighty Penguins and actually got the best of them. Senators outskated, outshot and outchanced them pretty clearly, and it was Pittsburgh that trapped, obstructed and tried to slow the game down in the last two periods. It worked, thanks to a couple of seeing-eye deflections, and the Senators inability to handle a taste of their own medicine. I'd like to see a bit more flash and dash. Even with Karlsson sadly limited at least for now, there's enough speed and skill to open up the attack a bit.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

You don't need to play "The Pesky Sens" style for an 82 game schedule. We were so far behind the 8 ball that season we were playing must win games since January.

We were so behind the 8 ball because of the Pesky Sens style

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

We were so behind the 8 ball because of the Pesky Sens style

I think losing Andy, Spezza and Karlsson at the same time was the reason we were behind the 8 ball more than anything else. That was a crazy season for big injuries.

 

[BondraTime]

We were so behind the 8 ball because of the Pesky Sens style

No we weren't, they were behind the 8-ball because they were in a shortened season and they did not have their #1 center, #1D, and #1G.

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

No we weren't, they were behind the 8-ball because they were in a shortened season and they did not have their #1 center, #1D, and #1G.

Yes you are right. IIRC however, the system was offense first from the first game to the last so it's not like the pesky Sens were something that was because of the injuries. Not to mention unsustainable goaltending from Hammond

 

[BatherSeason]

So management is right. Only until they are right again?

You know it could be that Boucher simply does not want some inexperience back there. Doesn't want chabot on the left side in his system. We may not see chabot consistently until boucher is gone.

Exaggeration maybe. But there's More to this than "he's not here because management knows better than everyone else and they're so slick and sly that every move they make with him is correct and furthering his development".

Pretty sure Dorion stated before the season began that "Chabot is an everyday NHL player NOW", or something along those lines. Seems like he was the only guy to be punished for the horrible game we played to close out the preseason.

 

[BankStreetParade]

This team needs someone other than Stone and Hoffman to score goals for them. Brassard hasn't scored since October 21st. And the rest of the team just can't seem to find the back of the net. Ryan and Duchene are both still MIA in the goal scoring department. Pageau is on pace for his lowest goal scoring season basically since he entered the league. It's going to be tough to win games if you can only count on 2 guys to score goals for you and your PP can't produce a damn thing.

 

[swiftwin]

Win or lose my reason for concern is that deep confidence / belief of the team isn’t there this year. We’ve seen it in spurts here and there, but overall I haven’t see them play a game recently where I believed that the players believed they’d win.

And Boucher has alluded to this ‘push back’ and it not showing up. A 3 game losing streak happens, but the men on the ice haven’t shown the intanglible confidence in the systems they showed last year

I agree, but also look at the Pens, Preds and Ducks. They had some really rough patches early on this season. The playoffs hangover is a real thing. For us, not starting with Karlsson was a cold shower in the morning that woke us up, but now we're getting hammered by the 5 o'clock hangover.

In this slump, only the Rangers game was truly abysmal. I thought we played very well against the Pens in the 1st, but then they got a lucky goal, then they shut the game down very well. They're a good team, the Stanley Cup champs, that deserves credit for the win. The Arizona game was a freak combination of bad goaltending and predictable PP.

My big concern right now is the PP. It's way to predictable. At the beginning of the season, our PP did not score, but it looked good. It eventually exploded on the western Canada trip. Right now it's not scoring and not looking good. My guess is that they haven't practiced it with the crazy schedule the last 2 weeks. Plus Boucher is probably focusing our practices on reducing the number of goals against.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Sometimes the team loses because the players don't play very well.

When's players aren't playing well for long periods (most of this season) a solution other than "wait till they play well again" needs to be found

 

[swiftwin]

Sometimes the team loses because the players don't play very well.

Impossible. It's always Dorion's fault for signing or trading for player x.

 

[NyQuil]

When's players aren't playing well for long periods (most of this season) a solution other than "wait till they play well again" needs to be found

I think that's a bit of an overstatement.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Pretty sure Dorion stated before the season began that "Chabot is an everyday NHL player NOW", or something along those lines. Seems like he was the only guy to be punished for the horrible game we played to close out the preseason.

He is an NHL player NOW. People that truly aren't NHL players, and play in the NHL, get absolutely buried. He was not getting buried. He was playing well with veeeeery small nicks in his game. But Boucher doesnt think it's his job to suffer any of those veeeeery small deficiencies and fix them.

It's Jacques Martin-esque.