Post-Game Talk: SENS in Carolina, Wednesday night 7PM

[Burrowsaurus]

That's also what happens when you're trailing. Carolina is very tough to score against and once you're down, you need to take chances.

Looks great when you score, looks unstructured when you don't

Why did we look so bad at 3-3 then?

 

[Bileur]

Nobody was expecting the team to go 82-0.

Everyone understands Carolina is a top team.

The problem isn’t that they lost, the problem is how they lost. The same issues which have plagued the team for years continue to rear their ugly head:
- defensive breakdowns
- questionable/deflating goaltending
- poor discipline
- lack of finish on grade A opportunities
- poor second period

It’s not the end of the world or a sign that the team will miss the playoffs (or have a bad start) but it is disappointing to fans who were hoping that with roster additions and internal improvement the team would come out looking better out of the gate.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

This would be funny if we weren't below .500 for the last 4 years with the same coach.

Also there is the fact that DJ Smith coaches a sloooww start every year.

Fun fact. It's too early to say we are having a slow start.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

There are things to dissect and criticize... Certain expectations may have been too high. The C depth is as bad probably worse than what we ran post Norris Injury last year. Certain plays, positioning, weak goals, fly bys, puck management ...
The team came out and played well in the first ... Once Carolina settled in they were the better team as should have been expected going into the game.

Its one game. Not a masterpiece by any means.. Missed some chances .. got goals from Kelly and Joseph and 1 from Stutzle on a tough angle shot. Goaltending was good for 2 periods. I didn't like the lines when they were first announced in practice and I did not like them during the game. I think we saw a lack of in game adjustments which I thought could have been made. Sens will never beat strong deep teams trying to stack 1 line and play the shit out of them.

Joseph and Kelly combined for 2 goals .. one at even and one on the PK. These guys can play together and provide speed and energy in the bottom 6. Everyone seems to be down on Kelly and super high on Joseph right now. Both can improve but I like their energy and I'd like them together.

Lots of work to do with this roster. We need Norris and Pinto ... Have to see where we go from here.

 

[DrEasy]

The shots against are a result of not having the puck long enough in our possession. Not enough playmakers on our team, and two of our skilled guys (Stu and Giroux) are on the same line. Having Norris back will be key to our success this season. Reunite the Chuck - Norris - Batherson line, maybe spread Giroux and Stu on two separate lines, and maybe we'll manage to keep the puck for longer than a second or two.

Also, our D pairings don't work, and our PP is disjointed. If only we had a preseason to get these things ready!

 

[swiftwin]

Nobody was expecting the team to go 82-0.

Everyone understands Carolina is a top team.

The problem isn’t that they lost, the problem is how they lost. The same issues which have plagued the team for years continue to rear their ugly head:
- defensive breakdowns
- questionable/deflating goaltending
- poor discipline
- lack of finish on grade A opportunities
- poor second period

It’s not the end of the world or a sign that the team will miss the playoffs (or have a bad start) but it is disappointing to fans who were hoping that with roster additions and internal improvement the team would come out looking better out of the gate.

What would constitue an acceptable loss to you?

The things you listed are things every team does when they lose games. If we don't do those things, we probably win the game.

It's almost like saying "I would have accepted a loss if we had outscored the opponent". It just doesn't happen.

Edit: For example, if Korpi had shut the door yesterday after we made it 3-3, then won in a SO, Canes fans would be saying similar things about the Canes:

-Wasn't ready to start the game, slow 1st period
-Bad goaltending on Stutzle's goal
-Irresponsible with the puck leading to too many odd man rushes against, including a short handed goal against
-Took too many penalties
-Rod didn't make adjustments after DJ shook his lines up leading to the 2 quick goals in the 3rd.

Edit #2: The other funny thing is that a common complain last season was "DJ wasn't prepared, didn't have the boys ready to start the game on time". Even Sportsnet was talking about how the Sens would have to weather the storm for the first 10 minutes last night. As it turned out, it was the Canes who had to weather our storm. I'm pretty sure we were up 6-0 in shots at one point, and were plain dominant.

 

[OD99]

Being short a F made a mess of things.

Kastelic was the C for too many opportunities and fumbled the puck when Norris or Pinto may have buried one or made a nice pass.

We need to balance the lines again and I expect we will get more even distribution having home ice for the next while.

We certainly can't run the top lines into the ground against Philly and be gassed for TBay.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

We looked far, far, far better tonight than we did in game 1 last year. Against cup contender, no less.

Without 2 vital centres. Although I loved Greig's game. The 4th goal was inexcusable and our undoing.

DJ Smith's system is a problem, though. He's gotta discipline Stutzle more for his turnovers, the guys think they have too much of a green light to be as creative as they want without reprimand. No way someone should be trying to dangle in his own zone or skate it out from behind the net in traffic the way Stutzle was under a strict coach.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Man I forgot how bipolar HFSens gets during the season.

People need to chill. Canes are a great team and it's not a surprise we lost to them.

 

[Xspyrit]

Tarasenko is not good. He needs to be moved to the top line so hopefully he can at least shoot, but he’s bad at everything else.

I don't understand why I know these things WITHOUT the benefit of hindsight yet this GM and coach are always clueless and find out later

How many times did I say "Tarasenko needs to produce to be relevant and the best way to do that is to play with Tkachuk and Stutzle". Yet he was on the 3rd line with Kubalik and an AHLer?

Some other things I have said this summer :

- All this to sign a guy we don't need in Tarasenko

- We were a bottom-7 team at even strength last season and inexplicably, we just got worse defensively at ES. We don’t need guys like Tarasenko or Kubalik, coaching; bottom-6 forwards and right side defense is what makes it very hard for goalies in Ottawa… based on the last 3 seasons, I don’t think Dorion see it this way. He’s probably thinking that signing an aging/damaged Tarasenko is the solution

- They need... not an older offensive player that has had a lot of injuries and is worse defensively than DeBrincat...

- They currently have $9,170,953 with only 8 forwards signed. Greig ($863,333) will be there, Pinto is RFA and will be there (2.0?) so that's 10

They can't even afford Tarasenko

We need to get a good top-9 forward who is good both ways and we either sign or trade for another one if we don't want our bottom-6 to be flawed again. We don't need a DeBrincat or a Tarasenko...


I sure hope that Tarasenko (and Korpisalo) ends up working because if we don't start making the playoffs, this whole rebuild looks like failure and will need a serious retool to get back on the right track again

For sure I never want to see Kubalik and Tarasenko on the same line again. Terrible idea to put them together no matter who the C is.

You'd need to have very low hockey IQ to even suggest it, yet...

Same thing I said last year when they tried to fit a square peg into a round hole with Norris and DeBrincat on the same line. When you force things that aren't meant to be, bad things happen.

And it's so stupid to have both Tarasenko and Kubalik in the first place... We don't have the cap space to have them both (too many past mistakes by our beloved GM) and by having them both, we have created a contract dispute with one of our important young players...

I was joking in case it wasnt clear

I know don't worry but could you imagine Dorion behind a NHL bench 2 seconds? Instant meme factory

 

[bert]

If you watched any of the last 160 Blues games you’d know Tarasenko is done.

Like the radio said today - wish the Sens management didn’t eveluate talent based off of tape from 2016

In tarasenkos last full season he had 80+ points.

 

[GCK]

I agree with those who say that we played against one of the best teams in the league, hence losing not being a big issue, especially on the road and only by two goals.

But for me, losing wasn't the problem; but the lack of collective defensive progress compared to last season and the inability to turn off individual mistakes were.
There is a difference between losing because the opposite team is better and losing because of a lack of collective or individual skill.

I thought we were very good defensively in the first. In the 2nd and 3rd we started turning the puck over in bad spots. The only time we were running around in our own zone and collapsing to the goal was during extended shifts. Much better than previous iterations. If my eyes did not deceive me I think we will be much better holding leads in the 3rd.

 

[GCK]

Man I forgot how bipolar HFSens gets during the season.

People need to chill. Canes are a great team and it's not a surprise we lost to them.

Well said. I saw the Canes do the same thing to Boston last January.

 

[Korpse]

In tarasenkos last full season he had 80+ points.

They also don’t need him to be prime Tarasenko. Just a secondary producer. Time will tell if it’s a good fit but the constant talk about him not being the player he once was completely misses the mark. Nobody expects him to be a driver of primary contributor nor does the team need that.

 

[Micklebot]

Well said. I saw the Canes do the same thing to Boston last January.

Yeah, a lot of the comments about the game come of as tell me you didn't watch any Canes games last year without telling me you didn't watch any Canes games

There's a reason Brindamour is so well regarded as a coach, and there's a reason why the Canes are the favourites to win the presidents trophy this year.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Chabot and Stuetzle both responsible for 3rd period goals against. Can't have that. Especially on the road against a top team. Korpisalo looked pretty human.

Korpisalo looked awful on that 4th goal. I'm hesitant to pin any blame on the others when you're waving your glove around and whiffing like you're Patrick Lalime. Back breaker after the team fought back.

My bold prediction this year is Forsberg proves as the #1 by midseason.

 

[DylanSensFan]

Man I forgot how bipolar HFSens gets during the season.

People need to chill. Canes are a great team and it's not a surprise we lost to them.

After having some time to think about it, I think you're right.

Yeah, a lot of the comments about the game come of as tell me you didn't watch any Canes games last year without telling me you didn't watch any Canes games

There's a reason Brindamour is so well regarded as a coach, and there's a reason why the Canes are the favourites to win the presidents trophy this year.

In the playoffs they were dogged. The only reason they didn't make the cup final is because Florida was somehow more dogged than the Canes.

 

[Loach]

That first line still had a lot of opportunities . It doesn't matter who the Stutzle line faces. But hat first line played like shit. Cheated. Half assed their assignments. If your best players aren't your best players, then this team will have a wonderful 82 point season

Agree. The guys are going to have to wear bad performances eventually. Young team, new players on the team, coaching, injuries...at some point the reasons become excuses. The boys have to win in spite of the circumstances. You need different guys to carry the team every game. I don't know. I have the same feeling as last year halfway through. It's like they are waiting for something, maybe I'm wording it wrong.

 

[Cosmix]

So the question remains. Once Norris is back 100% and Pinto is projecting to be a solid 2-way and a face-off specialist Center. What will we do we Ridley Greig, especially if he continues to improve as he is?

Make room on the roster for him! That is what we should do, IF he shows he is ready to play at the NHL level.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Make room on the roster for him! That is what we should do, IF he shows he is ready to play at the NHL level.

I thought third line LW was his spot before the season started. But then we randomly signed tarasenko

 

[BankStreetParade]

Just a reminder: This team can lose somewhere in the neighbourhood of 35 games, a combination of both regulation and OT, and still be in the driver's seat for a playoff spot.

 

[Cosmix]

Well,I still think he is waiver exempt…so sending him to Belleville would be the option most likely

I agree that Belleville is the most likely scenario for Greig given the salary cap room situation and him not being subject to waivers; however, If Greig shows that he is better than any one of our third liners, he might be retained if roster salary cap room can be made available.

I thought third line LW was his spot before the season started. But then we randomly signed tarasenko

Shouldn't "randomly" be "foolishly"?

 

[Tragedy]

Korpisalo looked awful on that 4th goal. I'm hesitant to pin any blame on the others when you're waving your glove around and whiffing like you're Patrick Lalime. Back breaker after the team fought back.

My bold prediction this year is Forsberg proves as the #1 by midseason.

That same Patrick Lalime who is 1st in GAA in the modern era in playoffs and 8th all time in save %? I will not stand for Lalime slander!

 

[Cosmix]

this seems a bit like an exaggeration, Tarasenko was scoring at a 0.98 PPG rate in his last 113 games with the blues

Who was Tarasenko playing with on the Blues?

 

[Tuna99]

In tarasenkos last full season he had 80+ points.

Let’s see how it goes. Don’t think that’s the player we have by any means but I’d be happy to be wrong

Pinto is a better player then Tarasenko