–Nikita Filatov will sit tonight and Brian Lee will play as Filip Kuba continues to recover (MacLean is using Butler over Filatov based purely on work ethic, “[Butler] has worked real hard through training camp as well as into the course of the season, and has developed has game to the point that the opportunity to play [on the first line]“).

–The Ottawa Sun‘s Don Brennan writes about the performance of Jared Cowen (link), who is enjoying a strong rookie campaign.  His minutes have gone up the last three games while Kuba has been out of the lineup.  While the coaching staff truly is pleased with his performance, it’s worth pointing out he’s the only left-handed blueliner who likes to play his strong side (besides Kuba) and the Sens have had only one powerplay in each of the last two games (cutting into time played by Gonchar, Karlsson, and Rundblad).

-In the same article Kaspars Daugavins talks about blocking an Alexander Ovechkin shot, “My arm went numb. I thought the top of it was going to fall off.”

-ESPN, Sportsnet, and The Hockey News‘ power rankings are up (link, link, and link), with Ottawa 21st in all three

–The Silver Seven‘s Mark Parisi takes his look at the week that was for Ottawa (link) and I agree with virtually everything he says with one puzzling exception: he has David Rundblad as trending downward despite saying “As Cowen‘s minutes have increased, Rundblad‘s have decreased. We’re not sure why.”  There’s an obvious answer (MacLean doesn’t fully trust Rundblad on his off-side and refuses to put Lee there), but isn’t this Parisi’s (or Silver Seven‘s) list?  If he/they like how Rundblad is playing, why trend him down?

-Binghamton stormed back from a two goal deficit to defeat Connecticut 4-3, bringing their record with Matt Carkner in the line-up to 2-0.  Robin Lehner got the win and Andre Petersson scored twice (Derek Grant and Rob Klinkhammer had the other goals).  For the box score go here link, for Joy Lindsay’s game summary go here link.

-Joy Lindsay’s post-game article is up (link), with Kurt Kleinendorst saying “I think we’ve been playing pretty well lately. It’s unfortunate we found a way to lose that game (Saturday night). But even though we haven’t always had the right results, I think we’ve been playing very well, really starting to get it. We were playing really well, then a marginal call gave them a power play, and it took them about 10 seconds to score a goal. Then we weren’t ready for the next shift, which is an important shift. That’s probably my fault for putting the wrong guys out there. But that’s how I learn. That’s how we all learn. We got right back to it. If we are playing the game the way we needed to play — the right way, no matter what the score — we’ll be just fine. The guys just kept going along, playing the game the right way.  Any time you can take four out of six (points), with two (games) on the road. But on the other hand, we were so close last night, had such a nice opportunity last night, and that just shows we’re not quite where we need to be. But we’re starting to make progress. I see things with this group that I like.  I think now that Steph‘s [Da Costa] here, we made a change, and that was a nice line. That was the line that helped us get it done offensively. But it was also the line I was referring to after the goal. There are going to be some growing pains, but if we can get that group to be playing both sides of the puck, we’ll be in good shape. Klinkhammer had one, Petey [Petersson] had two, and Da Costa had one that was questionable, probably a goal. Three goals out of one line is something we have not had often.  He [Klinkhammer] is exactly what we thought he was going to be. He’s fast, he’s not going to be overly physical, but he’s certainly physical. He’s what I call an honest player. He plays both sides of the puck.”

-Elmira won 2-1 in a shootout, with Brian Stewart picking up the win and Jack Downing going pointless.  Louie Caporusso did not play.

-Prospect updates (their position in team scoring is noted in brackets, defence compared to defence; I’ve also indicated if the player’s scoring position has change (with a + for up, – for down, and = for unchanged):
CHL
Mark Stone (Brandon, WHL) 31-25-36-61 (1st=)
Shane Prince (Ottawa 67s, OHL) 23-14-22-36 (3rd=)
Matt Puempel (Peterborough, OHL) 29-17-15-32 (1st+)  
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Gatineau, QMJHL) 17-18-13-31 (1st=) (injured)
Stefan Noesen (Plymouth, OHL) 25-8-21-29 (3rd=)
Jakub Culek (Rimouski, QMJHL) 27-6-13-19 (5th=)
Darren Kramer (Spokane, WHL) 25-11-7-18 (5th-)
Jordan Fransoo (Brandon, WHL) 31-1-5-6 (4th=)
SEL
Jakob Silfverberg (Brynas) 25-11-11-22 (t-1st+)
Mika Zibanejad (Djurgarden) 11-3-2-5 (14th+)  
Fredrik Claesson (Djurgarden) 27-1-4-5 (4th=)
Allsvenskan
Marcus Sorensen (Boras) 11-2-4-6 (8th=)
NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (CCHA-Ohio State) 15-5-10-15 (t-2nd-)
Ben Blood (WCHA-North Dakota) 16-2-7-9 (t-1st+)  
Bryce Aneloski (WCHA-Nebraska-Omaha) 18-1-8-9 (t-2nd-)
Chris Wideman (CCHA-Miami) 18-1-7-8 (1st=)
Max McCormick (CCHA-Ohio State) 8-2-3-5 (11th-)
Michael Sdao (ECAC-Princeton) 12-4-1-5 (2nd=)
Jeff Costello (CCHA-Notre Dame) 13-0-4-4 (13th-)
Brad Peltz (ECAC-Yale) 2-0-0-0 (=)

December 5, 2011
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment