Official Ottawa Senators Thread

[Madferret]

Ottawa Senators (22-15-6) at Pittsburgh Penguins (21-15-4). Tuesday, 7 p.m., Consol Energy Center

SPECIAL TEAMS

OTT: PP 17.6%, No. 17; PK 79.8%, No. 24

PIT: PP 19.0%, No. 9; PK 86.9%, No. 4

PENGUINS LINES

    Chris Kunitz-Evgeni Malkin-Steve Sullivan
    Eric Tangradi-Pascal Dupuis-Tyler Kennedy
    Matt Cooke-Richard Park-Colin MacDonald
    Steve MacIntyre-Joe Vitale-Aaron Asham

Defence

    Brooks Orpik-Matt Niskanen
    Paul Martin-Zbynek Michalek
    Ben Lovejoy-Deryk Engelland

Goalies

    Marc-Andre Fleury
    Brent Johnson

SENATORS LINES

    Colin Greening-Jason Spezza-Milan Michalek
    Erik Condra-Kyle Turris-Daniel Alfredsson
    Nick Foligno-Zack Smith-Chris Neil
    Kaspars Daugavins-Zenon Konopka-Bobby Butler

Defence

    Filip Kuba-Erik Karlsson
    Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar
    Chris Phillips-Matt Carkner

Goalies

    Craig Anderson
    Alex Auld

INJURIES

Sens

    C Peter Regin (shoulder)
    C Jesse Winchester (concussion)

Pens

    C Craig Adams (undisclosed)
    C Jordan Staal (knee)
    C Sidney Crosby (concussion)
    D Kris Letang (concussion)
    LW James Neal (foot)
    D Robert Bortuzzo (concussion)

 

[Madferret]

Karlsson's success will cost Senators
Defenceman on pace to get 78 points

PITTSBURGH ? Erik Karlsson?s success is going to come with a pricetag.

As the Senators hit the road Monday for a three-game trip that starts Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Consol Energy Center, Karlsson isn?t just leading defencemen in scoring, he?s blowing the rest of the field away.

Karlsson has six goals and 35 assists in 43 games and was eight points ahead of his closest competitor ? Florida Panthers? Brian Campbell (three goals and 30 assists) going into Monday night?s action. A restricted free agent, Karlsson is going to soon cash in on his success.

On pace to become only the fourth defenceman ? Mike Green (Washington), Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit) and Sergei Zubov (Dallas) ? to score more than 70 points since the NHL lockout ended in 2005, Karlsson, a restricted free agent following this season, is on pace for 78 points.

Craig Oster, Karlsson?s agent with Newport Sports, confirmed in an e-mail Monday there haven?t been talks, but the belief is the Karlsson camp will be looking for something similar to the $5.25 million Green is making with the Capitals.

There shouldn?t be any concern about Senators GM Bryan Murray and assistant Tim Murray getting Karlsson signed, but the Senators have to decide whether they want a three-year deal or do a long-term contract of five or more years.

With the CBA expiring Sept. 15, the Senators also have to be aware of the fact Karlsson could be the target of a front-end loaded offer sheet.

Karlsson, who was plus-5 and scored a huge third period goal in the club?s 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Sunday, isn?t worried about his contract and is his own worst critic when it comes to discussing his play.

?A couple of good ones and couple of bad ones. At times, so-so,? said Karlsson. ?My body feels good and I?m healthy. The team is playing well so that helps a lot.

?You just try and go out there every shift and do your best and do what?s good for the team.?

Nobody on the Senators is underestimating his value.

?He?s an all-star. He?s really growing as a player,? said coach Paul MacLean, who gave the players Monday off before the one hour-flight to Philly in the afternoon.

?Right now, he?s really taken his game to another level, but it?s a level of simplicity. He?s not complicating the game as much as he maybe did earlier. He?s keeping the game simple. A lot of success is coming his way.?

?(He?s) gifted. He?s one of the best in the National Hockey League and there?s a reason for it,? said Senators goalie Craig Anderson. ?He works hard and he?s in shape. He?s still young and he?s learning the game, but when he makes a mistake, the next night he doesn?t make the same mistake again. For every 10 things he does well, he makes one mistake. I like that ratio.?

Karlsson gives credit to his teammates.

?You just try to go out there and do the best you can,? said Karlsson. ?If you score six goals in a game, you might be lucky to pick up a few (points). Lately, I?ve been in the right situations all of the time. I play with pretty good players so sometimes you?ve just got to give them the puck.?

 

[Sucker Punch]

No, I do like him, but its tough to deny that he hasn't lived up to expectations.  It says a lot about Ottawa's goaltending history that not letting in numerous deflating goals is a compliment.

I'm not too worried yet, I'll give him more than half a season before judging him, but his play is nowhere near what we saw at the end pf last season, and on a better team.

His GAA has dropped from 2.05 to 3.13, and his sv% has dropped from 0.939 to 0.902.  Obviously, I didn't expect him to keep that up, but what we're getting now is unacceptable.  In 18 games last year, he stole half a dozen games for us, don't think he's done that at all this season.

He's getting his wins, but I think its something of a Raycroftian illusion.  We need to score 4 or 5 goals to get him the win, and its all because we have the best offensive defenseman since Paul Coffey.

I'm still on his team, he's gotten better since the beginning of the season, but Andy at the all star game is almost as ridiculous as Jim Reimer.

There's no way our d would be taking the chances they do and getting away with it if Anderson wasn't there to bail them out. Couple of other things to consider - we're dead last in SA <1370> 25th in TSH, he's 3rd in wins for goalies, Auld has been brutal - Anderson has played 38 out of the 43 games so far <36 starts 2 in relief>...for the first time in a while we're getting consistent / reliable goaltending.

But if you're not happy with it that's cool - but I will try and wear you down on it.
How many full games have you been able to watch this year?

From start to finish, probably about half of them.

Andy's facing a lot of shots, but he saw more in his short stint with us last season, and put up considerably better numbers behind a worse team.  .902 is not good enough.

What area in the Sens' game has the most room for improvement, in your opinion?  Consistently getting better goaltending I think is the biggest hurdle.

We're getting good coaching, producing offensively, and our power play is working.  But we can't kill penalties or defend, and that's not all on our defensemen.

 

[Madferret]

No, I do like him, but its tough to deny that he hasn't lived up to expectations.  It says a lot about Ottawa's goaltending history that not letting in numerous deflating goals is a compliment.

I'm not too worried yet, I'll give him more than half a season before judging him, but his play is nowhere near what we saw at the end pf last season, and on a better team.

His GAA has dropped from 2.05 to 3.13, and his sv% has dropped from 0.939 to 0.902.  Obviously, I didn't expect him to keep that up, but what we're getting now is unacceptable.  In 18 games last year, he stole half a dozen games for us, don't think he's done that at all this season.

He's getting his wins, but I think its something of a Raycroftian illusion.  We need to score 4 or 5 goals to get him the win, and its all because we have the best offensive defenseman since Paul Coffey.

I'm still on his team, he's gotten better since the beginning of the season, but Andy at the all star game is almost as ridiculous as Jim Reimer.

There's no way our d would be taking the chances they do and getting away with it if Anderson wasn't there to bail them out. Couple of other things to consider - we're dead last in SA <1370> 25th in TSH, he's 3rd in wins for goalies, Auld has been brutal - Anderson has played 38 out of the 43 games so far <36 starts 2 in relief>...for the first time in a while we're getting consistent / reliable goaltending.

But if you're not happy with it that's cool - but I will try and wear you down on it.
How many full games have you been able to watch this year?

From start to finish, probably about half of them.

Andy's facing a lot of shots, but he saw more in his short stint with us last season, and put up considerably better numbers behind a worse team.  .902 is not good enough.

What area in the Sens' game has the most room for improvement, in your opinion?  Consistently getting better goaltending I think is the biggest hurdle.

We're getting good coaching, producing offensively, and our power play is working.  But we can't kill penalties or defend, and that's not all on our defensemen.

My biggest concerns: the amount of stupid / undisciplined penalties we take, poor decision making coming out of the zone, we wait until we're down a couple of goals before we kick it into another gear. All three of those habits will catch up with us sooner or later and all three of those habits could add a 1 to our current rank if we don't curb them.

At the same time I don't want to get too greedy and anger the Hockey Gods here..we're supposed to be running away with a lottery pick but here we are sitting 5th in the East - and if I'm being honest as it stands right now the only team in the East that really scares me is the Bruins.

Anderson is debuting another new mask tonight apparently although I'm not sure if I can tell what exactly is new about it - looks pretty much like his other one. That's the only angle of it I could find maybe the other side of the mask has Xena the Warrior Princess in a heritage jersey painted on it...

Lee in instead of Carks tonight - it's a tactical decision though he's not hurt or anything.

 

[Madferret]

Karlsson a late scratch with an "upper body" injury....uh-oh!

 

[Madferret]

Karlsson is 'fine' apparently...

 

[Madferret]

Spezza's goal last night. He's got that fake shot  / pull the goalie out move near perfected.

 

[Madferret]

How is Ottawa's situation any more of a rebuild?  They're still relying on a strong core of older players, not selling them off.

This isn't Gospel or anything but this is my take on why said players remained. Most of this is from what was being wriiten at the time of Murray going into rebuild mode and what Murray & some of the players were saying to the media:

Alfredsson has a NMC and didn't want to waive it so he could retire here. Also wanted to be a part of the rebuild.
Phillips he did have a NTC at the time but said the same thing - he wanted to be a part of the rebuild and retire a Sen.
Michalek was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild
Spezza was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild and by all accounts Spezza will be given the C when Alfredsson decides to retire.
Foligno was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild.
Kuba & Gonchar were both untradeable at the time, if things go sour for us between now and the deadline you can bet both will be gone. Kuba is UFA after this season anyways and won't be retained.

 

[TML fan]

How is Ottawa's situation any more of a rebuild?  They're still relying on a strong core of older players, not selling them off.

This isn't Gospel or anything but this is my take on why said players remained. Most of this is from what was being wriiten at the time of Murray going into rebuild mode and what Murray & some of the players were saying to the media:

Alfredsson has a NMC and didn't want to waive it so he could retire here. Also wanted to be a part of the rebuild.
Phillips he did have a NTC at the time but said the same thing - he wanted to be a part of the rebuild and retire a Sen.
Michalek was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild
Spezza was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild and by all accounts Spezza will be given the C when Alfredsson decides to retire.
Foligno was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild.
Kuba & Gonchar were both untradeable at the time, if things go sour for us between now and the deadline you can bet both will be gone. Kuba is UFA after this season anyways and won't be retained.

Nothing of what you said there explains why Ottawa is rebuilding and Toronto hasn't been for the last 3+ years.

 

[Madferret]

How is Ottawa's situation any more of a rebuild?  They're still relying on a strong core of older players, not selling them off.

This isn't Gospel or anything but this is my take on why said players remained. Most of this is from what was being wriiten at the time of Murray going into rebuild mode and what Murray & some of the players were saying to the media:

Alfredsson has a NMC and didn't want to waive it so he could retire here. Also wanted to be a part of the rebuild.
Phillips he did have a NTC at the time but said the same thing - he wanted to be a part of the rebuild and retire a Sen.
Michalek was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild
Spezza was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild and by all accounts Spezza will be given the C when Alfredsson decides to retire.
Foligno was identified as being young enough to be a part of the rebuild.
Kuba & Gonchar were both untradeable at the time, if things go sour for us between now and the deadline you can bet both will be gone. Kuba is UFA after this season anyways and won't be retained.

Nothing of what you said there explains why Ottawa is rebuilding and Toronto hasn't been for the last 3+ years.

It's my take on why the older players that are still on the roster are still on the roster.

 

[Madferret]

While I got you here TML Fan why don't you take a shot at explaining why you don't agree with me.

 

[TML fan]

While I got you here TML Fan why don't you take a shot at explaining why you don't agree with me.

Because you haven't adequately explained your position. What exactly have the Leafs done differently that wouldn't constitute rebuilding?

 

[Madferret]

While I got you here TML Fan why don't you take a shot at explaining why you don't agree with me.

Because you haven't adequately explained your position. What exactly have the Leafs done differently that wouldn't constitute rebuilding?

Maybe we need to go one more step back and see if we have the same definition of the term "rebuilding" when using it in the context of hockey.

I'm not sure if you saw this post -

Re-haul is the perfect word for what the Leafs did / are doing and rebuilding is what Ottawa is doing. So you can't really compare the two organizations in terms of where they are on any kind of ladder -  both clubs are ultimately trying to achieve the same thing but both are going about it in different ways. Is this fair?

 

[TML fan]

While I got you here TML Fan why don't you take a shot at explaining why you don't agree with me.

Because you haven't adequately explained your position. What exactly have the Leafs done differently that wouldn't constitute rebuilding?

Maybe we need to go one more step back and see if we have the same definition of the term "rebuilding" when using it in the context of hockey.

I'm not sure if you saw this post -

Re-haul is the perfect word for what the Leafs did / are doing and rebuilding is what Ottawa is doing. So you can't really compare the two organizations in terms of where they are on any kind of ladder -  both clubs are ultimately trying to achieve the same thing but both are going about it in different ways. Is this fair?

No, I saw that post. It doesn't explain anything. All you've said is "the Leafs have done one thing and Ottawa is doing another thing and that's the way it is because I said so".

 

[Madferret]

While I got you here TML Fan why don't you take a shot at explaining why you don't agree with me.

Because you haven't adequately explained your position. What exactly have the Leafs done differently that wouldn't constitute rebuilding?

Maybe we need to go one more step back and see if we have the same definition of the term "rebuilding" when using it in the context of hockey.

I'm not sure if you saw this post -

Re-haul is the perfect word for what the Leafs did / are doing and rebuilding is what Ottawa is doing. So you can't really compare the two organizations in terms of where they are on any kind of ladder -  both clubs are ultimately trying to achieve the same thing but both are going about it in different ways. Is this fair?

No, I saw that post. It doesn't explain anything. All you've said is "the Leafs have done one thing and Ottawa is doing another thing and that's the way it is because I said so".

Didn't I just ask you to try and explain where you're coming from on the subject?

 

[TML fan]

While I got you here TML Fan why don't you take a shot at explaining why you don't agree with me.

Because you haven't adequately explained your position. What exactly have the Leafs done differently that wouldn't constitute rebuilding?

Maybe we need to go one more step back and see if we have the same definition of the term "rebuilding" when using it in the context of hockey.

I'm not sure if you saw this post -

Re-haul is the perfect word for what the Leafs did / are doing and rebuilding is what Ottawa is doing. So you can't really compare the two organizations in terms of where they are on any kind of ladder -  both clubs are ultimately trying to achieve the same thing but both are going about it in different ways. Is this fair?

No, I saw that post. It doesn't explain anything. All you've said is "the Leafs have done one thing and Ottawa is doing another thing and that's the way it is because I said so".

Didn't I just ask you to try and explain where you're coming from on the subject?

I would if you could explain the difference between a rehaul and a rebuild, and how it pertains to how both clubs have structured their teams.

But if you really want me to explain: There is no difference. You're just using a fancy word to try and differentiate between the two teams for whatever reasons you have. Both teams have or are rebuilding themselves in different ways.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

[Insert Spartan intro video here]

 

[Madferret]

Ottawa Senators (23-15-6) @ New York Rangers (27-9-4)

SPECIAL TEAMS

  OTT: PP 17.8%, No. 16; 79.9%, No. 25
    NYR: PP 15.2%, No. 12; 86.8%, No. 12

LINEUPS

New York

Forwards

    Brandon Dubinsky-Brad Richards-Ryan Callahan
    Artem Anisimov-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik
    Carl Hagelin-Brian Boyle-Ruslan Fedotenko
    Mike Rupp-John Mitchell-Brandon Prust

Defence

    Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
    Michael Del Zotto-Anton Stralman
    Marc Staal-Stu Bickel

Goaltenders

    Henrik Lundqvist
    Martin Biron

Ottawa

Forwards

    Colin Greening-Jason Spezza-Milan Michalek
    Erik Condra-Kyle Turris-Daniel Alfredsson
    Nick Foligno-Zack Smith-Chris Neil
    Kaspars Daugavins-Zenon Konopka-Bobby Butler

Defence

    Filip Kuba-Erik Karlsson
    Jared Cowen-Sergei Gonchar
    Chris Phillips-Matt Carkner

Goalies

    Craig Anderson
    Alex Auld

 

[maplesyrup]

All-Star weekend in Ottawa will include All-Star goaltender Elliot. 

 

[Madferret]

All-Star weekend in Ottawa will include All-Star goaltender Elliot. 

That's got to feel pretty good for Elliott - good on him.