-The Sens play Dallas (5-6-2) this afternoon in a game that’s likely to have sparse attendance (NHL schedule makers have not been kind to Ottawa this season). Craig Anderson will start and MacLean has put combinations into the blender again for this game (Travis Yost does a good job exploring what MacLean might have been trying to accomplish).
-Ottawa lost 5-4 to the Islanders in a game where Robin Lehner was left to fend for himself (he made 53 saves) while the Sens blew two different two goal leads (boxscore). The loss has led to more and more bloggers questioning of Paul MacLean’s lineup decisions (see above). I still think it’s a little too early to panic.
-The Sens called up Mark Borowiecki to help shore up their porous blueline and this seems either a comfort move for MacLean (he knows Borowiecki) or a shot across the bow to marginal players like Eric Gryba. The B-Sens captain has been average thus far in the AHL, so it’s not specifically a performance-based decision for Boro.
-Binghamton dominated Adirondack on Friday, but lost 3-1 (boxscore with Jeff Ulmer‘s recap), with Andrew Hammond taking the loss. The B-Sens bounced back and beat Syracuse 4-2 (boxscore and Ulmer‘s recap) last night as Nathan Lawson picked up the win and Jean-Gabriel Pageau enjoyed a 4-point night. Now ten games in, Binghamton is 6-4-0.
-Elmira went 1-1 on the weekend, with Scott Greenham picking up the shutout win on Friday, while he was shelled the following night. Jakub Culek had an assist in each game.
–John Buccigross writes a naïve article about violence in hockey (the kind that earns suspensions) where he argues the plays can be coached out of the game. Right. If we’re all nice to each other there will be no wars or crime either. The problem with this kind of simplistic reasoning is that as long as someone in the game thinks that going over the edge will help their team win they will continue to do so until the league makes that strategy unviable. We all function based on incentives and given that in winning is everything Buccigross’ notion is simply untenable.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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