Resiliency not enough as Senators lose 5-2 to Lightning

by Peter Raaymakers on Mar 29, 2011 10:52 PM EDT in Ottawa Senators game recaps

The Ottawa Senators showed some very impressive resiliency in the third period of Tuesday night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but couldn't come back and ended up losing by a 5-2 score.

Some lacklustre defensive coverage was culpable as the Senators allowed Martin St. Louis and then Dominic Moore to put rebounds past Curtis McElhinney, and then St. Louis scored a second goal in the third period. Jason Spezza spoiled Dwayne Roloson's shutout mid-way through the third and gave the Sens some energy, but after Moore and Milan Michalek exchanged goals, Steven Stamkos salted away the game with an empty-net goal.

[Boxscore] [Game summary] [Event summary] [Faceoff report]
[Play-by-play] [TOI - Senators] [Shot report]

Sens Hero: Penalty killing
The Senators penalty killing has continued to impress. Tonight, they killed all four short handed chances, holding the Lightning to as many powerplay shots as Ottawa had shorthanded ones (two). And not only that, the Senators' aggressive penalty kill saw Filip Kuba, Spezza, and Michalek all deep in the offensive end and set up the latter for his fourth short-handed goal of the year. The Sens have not allowed a powerplay goal in six games, killing all 19 penalties over that span.

Sens Killer: Dominic Moore
Heck of a game for Dominic 'second-round pick' Moore, who added an assist to his two-goal night. Some will likely take issue with his first goal--the puck was under McElhinney's glove when Moore poked it in--and his second goal capped off a pretty passing play, but the common denominator to both is something every team needs in the playoffs: A willingness to drive to the net.

Sens Hero: Jason Spezza
One goal and one assist, why not give Spezza a hero's nod? He played 24:11 TOI overall, including 2:37 SH TOI, fired four shots on net, and was 14-for-21 in the faceoff circle for 67 per cent. With 48P in 57GP this season, can he get to point-per-game pace? It'd be tough, but not impossible.

Sens Killer: Martin St. Louis
St. Louis had a couple goals for the Lightning, too, and with 22:45 TOI, he played more than any other Tampa skater in the game. He didn't play much SH time (five seconds), but had lots of PP time and five shots on net, and looks like he's definitely ready for the playoffs.

Penance continues: Steve Downie
After fighting with Chris Neil tonight, Downie has had to face Neil twice, Mike Fisher, Matt Carkner, and Jarkko Ruutu (twice, although only one of the Ruutu-Downie fights was while Ruutu was in Ottawa) in paying his price for the well-known hit on Dean McAmmond. I don't know if the fights still have much to do with McAmmond, but I do know that Downie has not done nearly as much fighting against other NHL teams; more than one-fifth of his NHL fights have been against Senators players.

Honourable mentions:
To Filip Kuba, for some solid play and four shots on net. ... To Erik Karlsson, for a team-high five shots on net and a team-high 25:52 TOI. ... Milan Michalek, for some solid play and four shots on goal.

Dishonourable mentions:
To Jesse Winchester, for going 1-for-8 (13 per cent) in the faceoff circle. ... To Cory Clouston, for limiting Francis Lessard to just 2:25 TOI. ... To Chris Neil, for managing to go -2 in just 10:33 TOI while also accumulating 19 PIM (without even beating Downie convincingly) and not managing a shot on net or anything close thereto. ... To Nick Foligno, for following up a great game last time out with an unconvincing effort: 12:00 TOI, no shots and just one hit (so, the exact same stats line as Lessard managed in one-sixth the ice time).

Lottery pick update:
The Senators got no points in the standings tonight, while the Florida Panthers got one in their shootout loss, so the Panthers are two points ahead of Ottawa. The New York Islanders are also two points ahead of Ottawa, and the Isles have a game in hand. The Sens are four points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, but the Avs have two games in hand; Ottawa could still very easily get to 29 in the league, but right now are solidly in 28 place.

Shot chart:

Game highlights:

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Comments

That wasn't a convincing beating on Neil's part?

I thought it was a damn mugging. Downie was pretty clearly trying to get the linesman to end it before Neiler could give him any further of The Business (unsuccessfully, I might add).

Scholar, Gentleman, Shameless Sens Homer with a Heart of Gold.

by Johnny_Spectacular on Mar 29, 2011 11:17 PM EDT reply actions

I didn't think it was all that convincing a victory

I mean, Neil gets the decision, but considering the size difference, Downie held his own pretty well. I didn’t see many big shots, and Downie came about as close as Neil did to landing haymakers.

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Mar 29, 2011 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions

True, the size difference definitely plays a role

But Downie is a decent fighter despite his size. I thought there were a couple nice ones on Neil’s part near the end.

Maybe I’m biased because and round of Downie’s ongoing penance immediately gets top marks from me :p

Scholar, Gentleman, Shameless Sens Homer with a Heart of Gold.

by Johnny_Spectacular on Mar 29, 2011 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

No power plays for Ottawa in first and third

Refs are in playoff mode already

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 29, 2011 11:25 PM EDT reply actions

hooray for losing a not-so-terrible game!

entertaining, not super shitty soft goals against us, good forward pressure.. i like! we lost to a better team playing a better game. that’s what i want to see right now! minus that moore goal you mentioned it was just good players making good plays… and any game where we DONT get shutout is awesome.. then any game where spezza gets points is awesome.. spezza, michalek, and karlsson played quite well and as far as i’m concerned, that’s the core talent of our team. as long as they keep building that’s cool. next year if cowen and rundblad can add to that pool of upper echelon talent and remain consistent we’ll be ever so closer! not to mention a lottterryyy piiick! (i know it’s a broken record to be talking about this some more but a loss like this makes me happy!)

by Caden on Mar 29, 2011 11:39 PM EDT reply actions

Keep it comming

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 29, 2011 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope the Sens have a long memory when it comes to Downie

I’m glad that he seems to have changed his ways, but that’s not much good for Dean McAmmond’s head.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 29, 2011 11:42 PM EDT reply actions

oh annnnd

i didn’t think svatos had such a bad game! i’ve been watching him pretty closely since he’s come here and i realize in whatever other thread that was i advocated for potentially keeping him if the circumstances were right.. and he still isn’t doing anything to make me reconsider… he had a few good chances tonight. he drives the net hard which, as you said, is key to a playoff team (which we hopefully will eventually be?). and his skating seems to be getting better and better since his first day with us. i’d really like to see the results from a full offseason workout and the lingering damage on that knee… i think if he can get his body into a working shape then maybe he can focus on his mental game (which seems to be lacking)

by Caden on Mar 29, 2011 11:52 PM EDT reply actions

Svatos

If he can put up points with 3rd or 4th line minutes then I would be fine with giving him a make-good contract for next season. I don’t see him as a long term solution for Ottawa, but if there is no one better available to generate some secondary scoring then he would be an OK option.

by DW19 on Mar 30, 2011 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Problem is, the third and fourth line is already full of players with more potential

My impression of the Svatos signing was that he was a stopgap to fill in until next season when our top draft pick could take a position on the top six if he’s ready or not like BM indicated. He’s a cheap fill in and if anything Shannon might be a better option. Training camp may be interesting as there will be a lot of players fighting for those third and fourth line spots.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 30, 2011 11:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I was thinking of signing Svatos on a two-way contract and making him win his job at training camp. That might not be something he is interested in if he can get a one-way deal somewhere else.

by DW19 on Mar 30, 2011 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I called 4-2 T. Bay in the Senschirp contest.

Also had St. Louis GWG.

I was about 30 seconds away fron the wiser’s suite.

by oldmonk on Mar 29, 2011 11:56 PM EDT reply actions

Karlsson versus Martin St. Louis

Geez, Karlsson couldn’t even handle St. Louis in front of the net. It was a pretty pathetic effort at clearing the front of the net. I realize that St. Louis is strong for his size, but if Karlsson can’t handle that, how will he ever be an effective dman in this league?

Maybe we should introduce him to Barry Bonds, and he’ll arrive at training camp weighing 215 (LOL).

by Marvellous on Mar 30, 2011 8:04 AM EDT reply actions

In his defence...

Few defencemen can handle St. Louis in front of the net, that’s why he’s got 91P this season.

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Mar 30, 2011 8:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Karlsson's goal for the offseason

Sens coaching staff should make a tape of the occasions this season where Karlsson failed to handle the league’s smaller guys(like St. Louis) in a physical match-up and play it for him before every workout this summer. The message, “Erik, this can’t happen next season, now get to work!”

You wouldn’t expect Karlsson to go toe-to-toe with the Getzlafs and Penners of the league(that’s what Kuba, Carkner, Phillips and Cowen are theoretically here for), but I agree he needs to handle guys his size more effectively.

by DW19 on Mar 30, 2011 8:50 AM EDT up reply actions

In his defence part two

St Louis has years of experience in this league and Karlsson is not an overly physical guy defensively. Karlsson will never be as effective defensively like Phillips or Carkner, it’s not his job. Like Lindstom though he will become very good at not allowing the puck to get to to the front of the net through speed and puck handling. The other point is, that’s what he has a defensive partner for. He is getting stronger and will be better at handling smaller players in the future but for now I am happy with what he brings and he’s much better in his own end than last year.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Mar 30, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed HPR Sens Fan

I am not advocating trying to turn Karlsson into a shutdown defenseman. What I am thinking of is that if Karlsson is paired with a big physical guy then that player will have the opposite weaknesses. A guy like Cowen will struggle to contain the shifty Martin St. Louis types of the league because they are just too darn agile. That is where a guy like Karlsson can step in and contain that type of player. He just needs to add enough extra strength to handle that responsibility.

by DW19 on Mar 30, 2011 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I think that's a fair expectation of him

And I’d like to see it happen

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 30, 2011 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Karlsson is young and is obviously going to get bigger and stronger

but otherwise i agree that his defensive asset will be strong puck management. He seems to be a very competitive guy also so i wouldn’t be surprised to see him develop a more physical aspect to his game as he packs on the pounds (which he will).

by west-sider on Mar 30, 2011 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Protecting Karlsson

Karlsson with the kind of shape he is in is a pretty unique offensive talent so I am not down on him, but an extra 20 pounds of muscle would make him alot better. I can’t wait to see him paired with one of our bigger dmen. I loved it when he was paired with Sutton, and I was sorry to see Sutton go.

Cowen and Rundblad have a little bit of mean streak in them (assuming they make the team which is not guaranteed), and if they cream a few guys, Karlsson may get some respect after that. I don’t see Karlsson’s current partner, Phillips as a protector type of player like Sutton was.

by Marvellous on Mar 30, 2011 11:59 AM EDT reply actions

I miss Sutton!

I don’t miss all the elbowing penalties he took, but I loved him when he was here.

Oh Captain, my Captain!

by AlfieGirl on Mar 30, 2011 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

I liked the Sutton-Karlsson combination a lot last season.

Btw, Marvellous, in the games I have seen lately Karlsson has been paired with Kuba(even less of a protector than Phillips). Did Clouston switch up the defense pairings? I though Phillips was still playing with Lee?

by DW19 on Mar 30, 2011 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Phillips is still playing with Lee; that hasn't changed.

Kuba and Karlsson were reunited when Gonchar went down, presumably because AHL callups don’t need to be playing with Kid K at this point in his career.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 30, 2011 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Karlsson plays with both Kuba and Hale

Typically Karlsson plays the most out of the defenceman and I think his extra shifts happen with Hale.

Trying to be Erik Karlsson's agent since October, 2010.

by Adnan on Mar 30, 2011 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions

You may be right

Karlsson definitely gets extra shifts, but I can’t say I’ve noticed him on the ice with Hale. It was Lee who he was on the ice with for the first goal last night.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Mar 30, 2011 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Karlsson-Hale

This combination seemed to work pretty well when they were paired up early in the season. Funny enough, the Senators problems seemed to co-incide with Kuba returning to the line-up and Hale returning to Binghamton. Of course, the Spezza injury also fits into that time frame and explains a lot of the Sens struggles.

by DW19 on Mar 30, 2011 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions