I didn’t catch much of the Sens 4-3 shootout loss to Nashville, but you can read Michaela Schreiter‘s breakdown that includes the highlights. I did see enough to know that Ottawa’s lamentable two defensemen continued to make bad decisions, but I’m not sure what’s left to say about that at this point.
Nichols believes that in the absence of Clarke MacArthur that the HST line needs to be broken up to solidify the second line. I agree with him wholeheartedly that Alex Chaisson (or Curtis Lazar or Milan Michalek) aren’t the answer, so perhaps that’s one way to go, but I’m uncertain about Cameron’s ability to make good choices at this point.
The Binghamton lineup for their 2-1 loss to Syracuse was unchanged from the previous game except that Matt O’Connor was in goal. As for the game itself, Luke Richardson’s addiction to putting Zach Stortini on the powerplay came back to haunt him as the lumbering enforcer took two stupid penalties with the man-advantage, the second resulting in Syracuse’s winning goal. I hope Richardson will change how he’s using him, but I doubt it. On the whole I thought the Crunch held the edge in play, particularly dominating the first period. As for the BSens, they had another strong performance from the first line (Lindberg–O’Dell–Dzingel); it was also Nick Paul‘s best game thus far (and Matt Puempel‘s). [A look at the goals:
1. Fraser makes an inexplicable check attempt in the offensive zone leading to a 2-on-1 where Tambellini keeps and beats O’Connor short side
2. Schneider picks the pocket of Richard and score SH on the deke
3. Just after a PP had expired Tambellini scores off a weak one-timer through O’Connor‘s legs]
It was Evansville’s opening game of the season last night (a 3-1 loss to Indy) and they proceeded with the following lines (with Scott Greenham in goal):
Hussey-Leveille-Zarbo
Penny-Zay-MacDonald
Dunn-Lukin-Fawcett / Anthoine (extra forward)
Dieude-Fauvel-Carlsson
Carlisle-Rutkowski
Himelson-Humphries
I watched the game (broadcast in better quality than the AHL), and it featured a lot of individual play and lack of structure by the IceMen–clearly linemates need to develop chemistry. In general they seemed to be less talented lineup than Indy, although one game isn’t enough to be sure about that conclusion. As for players on AHL contracts or ELC’s, Joe Zarbo performed the best (although he didn’t stand out); Chris Carlisle, in contrast, was pretty bad (despite getting an assist on the only goal). [goals: 1. Zay turns it over creating a 2-on-1, 2. On the PP Greenham is beaten high short side, 3. On the PP Zarbo walks out front and scores high with the backhand, 4. Dunn turns it over leading to an empty-net goal.]
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 