-Ottawa lost 4-1 to Toronto last night in a game in which they heavily outshot the Leafs (50-22). It wasn’t a great night for Craig Anderson; Jakob Silfverberg scored the only goal for Ottawa. Here’s the boxscore. Amelia L echoes the general sentiment that the Sens played well, but suffered from bad penalties, subpar goaltending, and unfortunate puck luck. I agree with her that Marc Methot should play more than Chris Phillips in all instances and that Matt Kassian just shouldn’t be dressed. On the latter point I wonder if Paul MacLean will finally scratch the pugilist permanently (I remain suspicious that Latendresse has some lingering physical ailment and simply needed the rest).
–Nichols (who gets points for working in both an Ilya Zubov and Pat Elynuik reference) compares Erik Karlsson‘s eminent return with Dominik Hasek‘s abductor issues back in 2006. I agree with him that Bryan Murray would not be teasing us or the team about Karlsson‘s return unless he was sure it would be coming soon.
-Binghamton beat Hershey 4-2 yesterday; Marc Cheverie made 24 saves for the win, while Shane Prince, Brett Lebda, Stephane Da Costa, and Mark Stone (empty net) scored the goals. Here’s the boxscore and the highlights.
-The B-Sens play Syracuse (43-21-11) this afternoon; the Crunch are lead by Tyler Johnson (65 points) and backstopped by Riku Helenius (17-14-0 2.57 .900).
-The Binghamton Senators handed out their team awards yesterday:
Top defenseman: Mark Borowiecki
Top defensive forward: Derek Grant
Star of the Year Award (most top stars each game): Robin Lehner
Seventh Man Award: Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Man of the Year: Hugh Jessiman
Rookie of the Year: Jean-Gabriel Pageau
MVP: Derek Grant
-I didn’t think the Ken Hitchcock honeymoon in St. Louis would last forever and if Bruce Garrioch can be trusted (iffy given that the Blues have won three straight), Hitch’s antics are wearing thin this season. Speaking of Hitchcock, does anyone remember him saying that Alexander Pietrangelo was a better player than Erik Karlsson? Look it up for some LOL’s.
-I’m not a big Brian Burke fan, but the Toronto team that clinched a playoff spot last night is his team. Burke sewered himself by consistently talking about a fast rebuild, but in the end it took roughly five years which is about what you’d expect. I don’t envision the Leafs going very far in the playoffs (especially if they play Boston), but making it is enough.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 