Post-Game Talk: Senators @ Capitals | Injuries? Nah, playoffs!

[HockeySens]

Mark my words, Turris will be a beast once Spezza comes back. When he doesn't have to bear the burden of 1st line minutes, he'll tear it up on the second like. This season is a mixed blessing for all our players who played over their heads, invaluable experience they couldn't have gotten otherwise.

I agree 100%. I just have this feeling that once spezza comes back turris will breakout offensively.

As for karlsson, offensively he hasnt missed a beat, passing is great, IQ, shooting through traffic he was great. His top end speed is not there and so is his acceleration but thats because he was out for a couple of months and it will probably take the whole offseason to get his leg strength back, plus the conditioning. With that said, he was still one of the fastest guys out there. His skating is a little more choppy, more forceful rather than effortless looking but it will improve once he gets more confidence. Defensively, he was miles from where he was, he seemed like he didnt want to take too much contact which is fine and you can see that he didnt want to try those tight turns or abrupt stopping and I guess its good that he is being careful. Again, he will be better and if he keeps this up, no doubt next year he will be the same karlsson pre-injury, if not better.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Turris lets his mind affect his game way too much.

 

[Milan the God*]

Tomorrow night: Islanders @ Buffalo. A Buffalo win would mean the Sens could finish no worse than 7th, and we would avoid Pittsburgh somehow.

After that, the Rangers host the Devils at 3pm on Saturday.

So before the next Sens game, we'll know exactly what we have to do to clinch that 6th seed. The most amount of points we'll need is three. The least amount is one.

 

[Milan the God*]

Also, only the second time since 2006 that the Sens have won a game in Washington (Garrioch, 2013). Off the top of my head, I think the other was Kovalev's OT goal against them.

 

[dingbatz]

I agree 100%. I just have this feeling that once spezza comes back turris will breakout offensively.

As for karlsson, offensively he hasnt missed a beat, passing is great, IQ, shooting through traffic he was great. His top end speed is not there and so is his acceleration but thats because he was out for a couple of months and it will probably take the whole offseason to get his leg strength back, plus the conditioning. With that said, he was still one of the fastest guys out there. His skating is a little more choppy, more forceful rather than effortless looking but it will improve once he gets more confidence. Defensively, he was miles from where he was, he seemed like he didnt want to take too much contact which is fine and you can see that he didnt want to try those tight turns or abrupt stopping and I guess its good that he is being careful. Again, he will be better and if he keeps this up, no doubt next year he will be the same karlsson pre-injury, if not better.

My feelings exactly.

 

[Beville]

Also, only the second time since 2006 that the Sens have won a game in Washington (Garrioch, 2013). Off the top of my head, I think the other was Kovalev's OT goal against them.

I'm 99% sure we didn't have Kovalev in '06

 

[MiscBrah]

Pageau and Alfie must play together from now on.

Something about that duo, they seem to be completely dominant when on the ice together. I would love to see Pageau on the PP we need more offensive zone faceoff wins and he is the best guy on the team right now.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed some mad chemistry between 11-44, right?

Pageau was unreal tonight. He was blowing my mind with how good he was playing!

Mark my words, Turris will be a beast once Spezza comes back. When he doesn't have to bear the burden of 1st line minutes, he'll tear it up on the second like. This season is a mixed blessing for all our players who played over their heads, invaluable experience they couldn't have gotten otherwise.

Yes I'm sure once Spezza's back Turris will stop falling down and stop shooting wide. With Spezza sitting on the bench he'll be able to focus on skating and not have to worry about the other team's blue line.

Turris is sucking right now. Part of it has to do with playing on the 1st line and part of it has to do with him sucking right now.

 

[TheOriginalSilf*]

I'm 99% sure we didn't have Kovalev in '06

SECOND time since '06.

 

[Milan the God*]

I'm 99% sure we didn't have Kovalev in '06

Hmmm, not sure. Here's the line from the article: "It was only the second time since 2006 -- and the first time in three years -- the Senators have won a game in Washington. Ottawa knew what was on the line and didn't want to have to worry about trying to get points on the weekend."

I looked up the game that popped up in my mind: http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2009021136

Looked up the last time, before the 2010 Kovalev OT goal, we beat the Caps in Washington. We beat them March 12, 2006 by a score of 5-2.

So the article is right. This was only the second time since 2006 we beat them in Washington.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Mark my words, Turris will be a beast once Spezza comes back. When he doesn't have to bear the burden of 1st line minutes, he'll tear it up on the second like. This season is a mixed blessing for all our players who played over their heads, invaluable experience they couldn't have gotten otherwise.

I agree with this. I remember at the start of the year Turris was skating well and was winning a ton of battles.....looked like he bulked up big time and could handle physical engagements with the big boys. This version of Turris was only seen when he was the second line center behind Spezza. It's clear he's in over his head as the #1 center of this team, but take the pressure off him, and he's a valuable asset to the team.

 

[Rangers ftw]

Congratz to the playoff spot, but even more to the return of EK. Just curious about how he looked in the game, how was his speed and skating? How much ice time did he get? Best of luck in the PO!

 

[Flamingo]

Congratz to the playoff spot, but even more to the return of EK. Just curious about how he looked in the game, how was his speed and skating? How much ice time did he get? Best of luck in the PO!

He looked as dominant as before. The biggest difference from his play before was that he didn't try any quick-footed evasive manoevers in the corner. If someone was chasing him into the corner, he would slow up and bump them before resuming his play for the puck. His first step acceleration wasn't quite there. And he tried to force an ineffective pass a few more times than his old self.

You can look at his stats, he's a force already.

 

[Huston]

Turris is falling down and missing shots because his confidence is shot. Going back to be a #2 center will be good for him.

The unfortunate thing with that is that he will have to compete with Mika whenever Spezza returns.

 

[SaxPlayer]

I just loved the reaction by Alfie after the winning goal. He skated across and basically jumped into Gonch's arms. TSN captured a great picture of it for their article:



It's great to see a 40-year-old with the enthusiasm and joy of a rookie. Praise Alfie!

 

[RonJon]

Congrats on making the playoffs guys and gals. If someone told me a team would lose their top forward, defenceman and goalie in a short season, and the team name wasn't Penguins, I would have called BS. Super impressed with your depth and the no quit attitude. Good luck going forward

 

[God Says No]

Any word on Silf? And how exactly did it happen? I missed the game, but from what I read it was a sucker punch?

 

[Urgi]

 

[GrantLemons]

I don't know the exact stats but it seemed like Turris lost majority of his faceoffs last night, including numerous key offensive zone starts.

Very unimpressed with him lately. Hesitant, slow, not strong on the puck, and making bad decisions.

He rips a clapper of the bar and it's like, why doesn't he do that more often? He hardly ever puts himself in shooting positions like that because of his play lately. He takes it to the boards and either makes an ill advised pass or gets stripped of the puck.

Not trying to be too hard on him and I'm not trying to write him off by any means, but it's just tough to watch him play right now. Very frustrating. I know he's young but I expect more from him offensively.

Psyched for the playoffs. So happy for the boys after how hard they worked this year. They deserve to be in the big dance.

 

[Beville]

Hmmm, not sure. Here's the line from the article: "It was only the second time since 2006 -- and the first time in three years -- the Senators have won a game in Washington. Ottawa knew what was on the line and didn't want to have to worry about trying to get points on the weekend."

I looked up the game that popped up in my mind: http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2009021136

Looked up the last time, before the 2010 Kovalev OT goal, we beat the Caps in Washington. We beat them March 12, 2006 by a score of 5-2.

So the article is right. This was only the second time since 2006 we beat them in Washington.

I misinterpreted it, so it seems... Obviously I assumed that the '06 game was #1 and this was #2, my bad!

 

[SevenOfSpades]

Any word on Silf? And how exactly did it happen? I missed the game, but from what I read it was a sucker punch?

Olesky lost his stick on the penalty kill (I think). Basically when Silf moved toward the net, Olesky gave him a right hand to the face, something in between a face wash and a haymaker.

Pretty cheap move, but not suspension worthy IMO. Just a missed penalty is all.

 

[Silvercup Returns]

Is this the Riberio appreciation thread?

 

[Pierre from Orleans]

I don't know the exact stats but it seemed like Turris lost majority of his faceoffs last night, including numerous key offensive zone starts.

Very unimpressed with him lately. Hesitant, slow, not strong on the puck, and making bad decisions.

He rips a clapper of the bar and it's like, why doesn't he do that more often? He hardly ever puts himself in shooting positions like that because of his play lately. He takes it to the boards and either makes an ill advised pass or gets stripped of the puck.

Not trying to be too hard on him and I'm not trying to write him off by any means, but it's just tough to watch him play right now. Very frustrating. I know he's young but I expect more from him offensively.

Psyched for the playoffs. So happy for the boys after how hard they worked this year. They deserve to be in the big dance.

He is thrust into a position he is not suited for. He plays much better as a 2nd line center. So many posters set such high expectations on him and when he doesnt deliver (which he isn't expected to as a first line center) people are quick to jump on him.

The importance of Spezza is much more apparent with the play of Turris as our top centermen.

 

[Jorge Garcia]

It was kind of bizarre. Like their whole team spent the whole night picking on Turris, in addition to the many, many scrums and late cheapshots on all of the smaller, younger Senators. I think of the Caps as a finesse team, so all the scummy stuff was a bit of a surprise to me. Are the Sens supposed to be scared?

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

It was kind of bizarre. Like their whole team spend the whole night picking on Turris, in addition to the many, many scrums and late cheapshots on all of the smaller, younger Senators. I think of the Caps as a finesse team, so all the scummy stuff was a bit of a surprise to me. Are the Sens supposed to be scared?

I was honestly so surprised with how the Caps played yesterday.

A very dirty game, imo. Ovechkin was breaking sticks on Karlsson's back, they were taking really dirty cheapshots like the elbow to the back of Neil's head and the punch to Silfverberg's face!

Also, how the HELL was that not a penalty!?!? Let alone a suspension. The guy punched Silfverberg as he was about to shoot, wtf.

The slew foot was disgtustin to see as well. Ovechkin was even taking shots at Karlsson when he was not anywhere near the puck and Karlsson would raise his arms at him like "wow, really?"

 

[SanderSen]

It was kind of bizarre. Like their whole team spend the whole night picking on Turris, in addition to the many, many scrums and late cheapshots on all of the smaller, younger Senators. I think of the Caps as a finesse team, so all the scummy stuff was a bit of a surprise to me. Are the Sens supposed to be scared?

It sure did look like the Caps thought that targetting Turris was the key to getting at the Sens. Hmm, in two games Ovie has one goal, Turris has two.