–The Raaymaker jumps into Don Brennan/Jeremy Milks territory:

I think [a lack of an enforcer] ignores some realities of the team’s roster today, the modern-day NHL

Oh, the one where the enforcer is a dying breed?

the personnel currently employed in Ottawa’s Northeast Division. In my mind, those realities make it reasonable–perhaps even necessary–for Murray to seek out and acquire an enforcer for the Sens.

The Toronto Maple Leafs do fight a lot (they lead the NHL with 25 majors, although they traded 5 of those away with Mike Brown recently), but then again so do the Columbus Blue Jackets.  If enforcers=wins shouldn’t Steve McIntyre still be in the league?  The Oilers have tried repeatedly to add fighters to their lineup and it has made no difference whatsoever.

[if] Ottawa had a more established fighter in the lineup, McLaren would have chucked knuckles with that guy

Really?  Chris Neil and his 92 career fighting majors isn’t established?  He was on the ice.  I’m not sure why Raaymaker (or Jeremy Milks for that matter) can’t connect the dots that McLaren preferred to fight the less experienced fighter.

Neither Chris Neil nor Zack Smith are in that category; they’re not in McLaren’s weight class. And they’re valuable, useful players who actually provide much-needed offence for the team, so it’s not ideal to have them fighting in the first place.

They provide much needed offence?  Really?  That’s why they were drafted and brought into the lineup, for their offence?  If neither player is providing enough toughness then they need to be moved, but the entire argument is massively flawed.  There’s no evidence that fighting per se means anything in terms of wins, so people throw around vague terms like “toughness” which can’t be defined.  Losing David Dziurzynski (who is not surprisingly still suffering concussion symptoms) in a fight had nothing to do with the Sens losing to Toronto, nor was anyone talking about this as an issue until that fight.  Raaymaker dynamites his own suggestion by later saying the addition wouldn’t be necessary if Karlsson and Spezza were in the lineup–so enforcers only help bad teams?  Where’s the evidence for that?  Fortunately, the organisation isn’t going to do anything radical picking up a one-dimensional pugilist (or, more than likely, making any player moves at all).  I think a different argument can be made about whether the Sens would benefit from having more Matt Cooke-like agitators on their team, but that’s an entirely different argument that has nothing to do with fighting.

-Binghamton defeated Rochester 4-3 last night; Nathan Lawson made 41 saves to earn the win while Shane Prince and Corey Cowick notched two goals each.  Here’s the boxscore.

-Binghamton plays Hershey (28-23-8) this afternoon; the Bears are lead by Jeff Taffe (53 points) and backstopped by Philipp Grubauer (8-4-1 1.99 .930).  The B-Sens have signed Kyle Bushee to a PTO and he’ll presumably play, while I’d expect Marc Cheverie to get the start.

–Sylvain St-Laurent writes a nice piece (in French) about Jean-Gabriel Pageau and his development:

In the fall, when [Pageau] was not even 20 years, he was a rather limited role in the center the fourth line. Recently, the director of player development Randy Lee told me that this was perhaps the best thing that could happen to him then. Pageau was forced to develop new skills to play more regularly. For the first time in his life, he became a specialist in digital inferiority. Lee said that the leadership of Senators was both proud and relieved to see very quickly assimilate his new responsibilities. Small forwards who refuse to do so, those who stubbornly remain one-dimensional players often end up pursuing a career in the American League.

This is great insight into how the organisation tests to see the capabilities of their prospects and what they are willing to do.  Pageau was stapled to the checking line for much of the season and clearly performed quite well; now he’s getting the chance to flex his offensive muscles.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 10, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 last night; Robin Lehner made 33 saves for the win and was able to recover from allowing two soft goals.  Zack Smith, Patrick Wiercioch, and Jakob Silfverberg scored for the Sens, who gave up a 2-0 lead only to win the game late in the third.  The game featured a rare moment from Chris Phillips who decided a Michael Haley check on Jim O’Brien required him to drop the gloves.  The Rangers got a powerplay from the altercation as well as considerable momentum–they dominated the game from the point until the second half of the third period (Haley later drilled O’Brien again, but there was no reaction).  Peter Regin again played the least among forwards (9:39), although not to the great extent he did in the previous game.  Here’s the boxscore.

–Scott breaks down the Sens last 12 games in terms of scoring chances, possession (via a link to Behind the Net), and special teams play.  It’s well worth a read even though there aren’t any surprises, just statistical backing to what we’ve seen (Turris and Gryba struggles etc).

–Scott Cullen writes about the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference which includes some interest statistical looks at hockey.  The most interesting one to me was this:

Eric Tulsky presented a research poster (worked on by Eric with Geoffrey Detweiler, Robert Spencer and Corey Sznajder) on zone entries that revealed how valuable it is to enter the offensive zone in control of the puck, as opposed to employing a dump-and-chase technique. Certainly, there are times (eg. outnumbered by defenders, line change etc.) when dumping the puck into the offensive zone may be the most reasonable play but, circumstances being equal, teams were about twice as likely to generate a shot on goal when they carried the puck into the zone and that didn’t vary much based on the skill of the players involved. As Eric wrote about previously, Jaromir Jagr and Zac Rinaldo generated shots at the same rate for the Philadelphia Flyers last season when they entered the offensive zone with possession. Since there is a rather wide talent gap between the two, it then becomes relevant to note that the frequency with which they entered the offensive zone in possession of the puck was vastly different. While some advanced stats might appear counter-intuitive, the zone entries paper totally fits with expectations of the logical hockey observer. The odds of keeping possession of the puck, when you already have it, is of course higher than it would be to retrieve a dumped-in puck that, effectively, becomes up-for-grabs.

This runs contrary to a certain line of conventional wisdom that was (is?) very common in the hockey community (the importance of dump and chase).   It gives credence (not that it’s needed) to Detroit’s puck possession style that the Sens try to emulate.

-Binghamton defeated Connecticut 3-0 last night; Nathan Lawson made 34 saves to earn the shutout, while Fredrik Claesson, Chris Wideman (his first), and Wacey Hamilton (empty-net) tallied the goals.  Here’s the boxscore and the highlights.

-Binghamton faces Rochester (30-22-3) tonight; the Amerks are lead by Mark Mancari (49 points) and backstopped by David Leggio (29-17-1 2.62 .922).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 9, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa faces the New York Rangers (12-8-2) tonight; the Rangers are lead by Rick Nash (20 points) and tonight are backstopped by Martin Biron (1-1-1 2.50 .911).

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Toronto game 17/13.

–Bruce Garrioch weighs in with his mid-season report card which uses pretty broad categories that doesn’t really delve into the ins and outs of the season thus far.  He throws in speculation that the Sens might target Matt Cullen as a deadline acquisition, but that thought doesn’t seem to have any grounding in comments from the organisation.  Wayne Scanlan offers essentially the same analysis, but remains just as general in his assessment as Garrioch.

–Bob McKenzie reports the Sens are looking for “a physical player, preferably one who can drop the gloves with some authority.”  I don’t doubt Bob, but I do wonder how serious Ottawa is in finding such a player.  Do they want a Steve McIntyre-like goon?  I assume not because such players are a dime-a-dozen.  The term “physical player” suggests someone who can play a regular shift, but isn’t that supposed to be Chris Neil?  True power forwards who fight are never on the market (ala Milan Lucic), so if that’s what the team wants they will continue wanting.

-As expected the NHLPA has approved the NHL’s realignment plan and this is the new look for the league (beginning next season):

Eastern Conference
Central Division: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Toronto
Atlantic Division: Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, N.Y. Islanders, N.Y. Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
Western Conference
Pacific Division: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose and Vancouver
Mid-West Division: Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg

I highlighted teams that have switched conferences.  As expected Detroit moved east, while Winnipeg moved west (Columbus also moved east, which makes sense, but I had no strong feelings about).  I expect the Red Wings to do very well in the new Central, while the inclusion of the two Florida teams seems aimed at the snowbirds who can attend the games.

-Binghamton faces Connecticut (27-23-8); the Whale are lead by Kris Newbury (52 points) and backstopped by Cameron Talbot (21-22-1 2.64 .917).  The B-Sens signed Trenton Titan Stephen Schultz (47-26-25-51) to a PTO, although I’m not sure what player situation required the need for yet another forward on the roster.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 8, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa fell 5-4 to Toronto last night in a game where (for once) goaltending let them down.  Ben Bishop made 23 saves in the loss (he thought two of the five goals were bad ones), with Mika Zibanejad, Zack Smith, Daniel Alfredsson, and Colin Greening scoring.  The Sens fought back from 3-0 and 5-2 deficits, but did not have enough to pull even with the Leafs.  The game was marred by the knockout of David Dziurzynski in an early staged fight with Frazer McLaren (for those wondering, McLaren has 55 career fights as a pro while Dziurzynski has 16–it reminded me a little of Corey Cowick‘s AHL rookie year where he accepted a fight from John Kurtz which resulted in Cowick getting hurt).  Here’s the boxscore.  I thought Mark Stone was solid, while both Eric Gryba and Patrick Wiercioch struggled defensively; Peter Regin played a team low 8:17.

–Daniel Alfredsson summated the team’s performance succinctly:

We gave a good push in the third. Unfortunately, it just turned out to be late. We know we’re not going to quit. We put ourselves in a tough hole. We didn’t execute well in our own end, especially in the first half. We hung in there and at least we scored four goals.

-The Dziurzynski knockout came after one of Don Brennan‘s idiotic “Sens should fight more” columns.  The final score must be wrong somehow given that Ottawa fought twice last night….  Jeremy Milks makes the irrational conclusion that the problem with the fight was the Sens didn’t sign Matt Carkner or someone like him (because Jeremy understands how it is, but fans don’t–apparently he understands the game, but if you disagree with him you don’t).  Frazer McLaren showed some class after the fight (not acting like an idiot ala Arron Asham) and in his post-game comments said:

It was a lucky punch. It happens sometimes. You know, if you catch someone in the right spot, it doesn’t have to be the hardest punch. You can knock someone out easily. I’ve been knocked out myself, it happens . . . I know how it feels.

I do have to wonder why McLaren didn’t ask the more experienced Zack Smith or Chris Neil to fight (both on the ice at the time) rather than the rookie.  Incidentally, for fight fans here’s an epic battle involving former Sen Francis Lessard.  Given that one of those teams had to win, I think it augments Brennan’s argument that fighting equals winning….

–D. J. Powers takes a look at (in his opinion) the top NCAA free agents.  His list (no order implied, with Red Line Report‘s listings from last year indicated where applicable):
Greg Carey (32-26-22-48, LW, St. Lawrence, junior)
Dan DeKeyser (33-2-13-15, D, Western Michigan, junior) – Shawn Simpson reported last year that the Sens had interest in him; RLR listed him as the top NCAA free agent last year
Eric Hartzell (1.49 .936, G, Quinnipiac, senior)
Eriah Hayes (34-18-13-31, RW, Minnesota State, senior) – RLR had him at 15th
Antoine Laganiere (29-12-12-24, RW, Yale, senior)
Drew Leblanc (34-11-33-44, C, St. Cloud, senior) – RLR listed him 12th
Rylan Schwartz (33-15-27-42, C, Colorado, senior)
Andrej Sustr (34-8-14-22, D, Nebraska-Omaha, junior) – Tim Wharnsby (link above) reported the Sens interest last year (to be fair, every NHL team had interest in him last year); RLR listed him 11th
Shayne Taker (36-1-12-13, D, Notre Dame, junior)
Ryan Walters (34-20-28-48, LW, Nebraska-Omaha, junior)
Powers also includes Trevor Van Riemsdyk (32-7-18-25) among his notables who has a Sens link in that he attended their rookie camp last summer.  Under Bryan Murray the Sens typically only target a couple of NCAA players.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 7, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Ottawa faces Toronto (14-9-0) this evening; the Leafs are lead by Nazem Kadri (23 points) and backstopped by James Reimer (8-3-0 2.43 .923).  Both Milan Michalek and Mark Stone are expected to play with Ben Bishop getting the start; with two forwards inserted in the lineup other players will have to sit–no word on who that is yet.

–Nichols puts on his translation hat (or Google’s translation hat) to comb through Sylvain St-Laurent’s interview with Bryan Murray:

I think what I have to look at is where we are at that point. So we have to wait roughly another month to really see if this team is going to contend. Are we getting a number of the injured players back? And are they healthy? And are they able to play at a good level because of missing a number of games? I think when you evaluate all of that, we can make the call that says, ‘Do we add and pay a price – a future price – to give ourselves a real good shot at playoff time? Or do we continue to show patience and because we don’t have a couple of key guys playing, do we just wait and hopefully, as we look past that, look at the bigger picture? I have a variety of thoughts on what I would like to do. The one thing that I have maintained all along though is that we’re not likely going to trade a top young prospect at this point to get a veteran player for a playoff run. If we got a player back that was mid-twenties or late-twenties for a younger player and that player would be with us for a year or two beyond, that’s a different discussion. But, I haven’t got that name yet or that situation cropping up yet.

This sentiment on trades isn’t new from Murray since the rebuild, but it’s a change from his philosophy when he became Ottawa’s GM (such as trading for players like Martin Lapointe).  It’s a change that makes sense and I wholeheartedly agree with it.

I had, at times, a better team in Washington, but you have to have quality goaltending. You have to have guys that give you a chance to win. We have three people that can do that at this point in time. Is it too many? Well, one is a two-way contract and a young player, and it will sort itself out. Whether I have to trade one of them eventually to make sure the other two get lots of game time or whatever, that will have to be, again, a decision (I make). But, at this point, I’m very happy that we have the three. We talked about moving one early in the year and now, we have an injury and we have an adequate second guy every game to play, if necessary. So, I just want to be very careful. Like, I’m the fans would applaud if we can win because of goaltending, I’m happy to (satisfy) that.

Goaltending is the only reason the team is still competitive and there’s no rush to make a player move, although it seems a foregone conclusion that ultimately Ben Bishop will be traded.

–Adrian Dater‘s power rankings have Ottawa 11th.

–The Raaymaker indulges in fantasy Ottawa trade speculation with two absurd suggestions and two possible trades that seem pretty pointless to me–but for fans of this kind of thing check it out and form your own opinion.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 6, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Sens have recalled Mark Stone and he’s expected to be in the lineup tomorrow.  Yesterday the Sens sent Derek Grant back down to Binghamton.

–Spez Dispenser takes an interesting look at where the Sens (and their opposition) are shooting and scoring from–lot’s of colour charts and it’s an interesting piece to read through.

–Binghamton released Jean Bourbeau from his PTO, while signing Nick Craven to an ATO.  Craven‘s (25-16-17-33) season at Wesleyan is over where he served as the co-captain.  The 6’3, 22-year old was named the NESCAC MVP (you can read a little more about him here).

-For those wondering about the status of Brad Peltz, whose last game was with Trenton in the ECHL (January 11th), he’s on the B-Sens reserve list and eligible to return at any time (as seen here).

–D. J. Powers college notebook references Sens prospects Bryce Aneloski and Jeff Costello, but offers nothing meaty to dig into.

-Roy MacGregor wrote two articles about recent polls indicating that Canadians want hockey to be safer which could include introducing body checking at a later age or making the rinks larger.  The most shocking thing to me was this:

67 per cent of hockey parents [surveyed] know someone who has suffered a concussion or serious head, neck, back or brain injury while playing hockey, as opposed to 32 per cent aware of such an injury from football, 16 per cent from soccer and 9 per cent from mixed martial arts.

That’s a staggering percentage and if it remains unchanged I’d have to think fewer parents will put their kids in hockey.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 5, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa lost 2-1 to the Islanders in a shootout yesterday, with Robin Lehner making 33 saves in the loss and Mika Zibanejad and Patrick Wiercioch (scoring late to tie it) providing the offence.  Here’s the boxscore.  It was a rough night for Eric Gryba (poor decisions on both goals) and the Sens third line; Alfredsson‘s struggles also continued.  Up until the Grabner goal I thought the fourth line was Ottawa’s best; Colin Greening had the most and best scoring chances for Ottawa, but could not put the puck in the net.  One thing the Sens did manage (unlike in Philadelphia) was their temper, as they got riled up after a clean Matt Martin hit, but didn’t take any silly penalties going after him (much to Jeremy Milks chagrin).  Ryan‘s game summary is pretty accurate, although I thought both Sergei Gonchar and the Sens powerplay were solid.  Scott has the scoring chances 14/16.

–Harry Zolnierczyk was suspended for four games after his hit on Mike Lundin.  It’s more than I expected, but won’t change Zolnierczyk‘s game, nor is it a “message” to other players who play the same way.

–Mark Parisi has a remarkably generous ups and downs for the week that was for everyone other than Jakob Silfverberg.  I think he could have slapped a number of negatives in and I’m not sure poor Silfverberg deserves to suffer for the atrocious play of his linemates.

-Binghamton also lost in a shootout yesterday, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Toronto Marlies.  Nathan Lawson made 28 saves in the loss while Dustin Gazley scored the only goal for the B-Sens (also the only goal for Binghamton in the shootout).  Here’s the boxscore.

-Here is the latest prospect update (for players with more than 10 games played I’ve indicated where they are in scoring; for blueliners they are compared to other defensemen on the team):

CHL
Cody Ceci (OHL Ottawa/Owen Sound) 64-18-41-59 (1st)
Matt Puempel (OHL Kitchener) 46-29-9-38 (3rd)
Stefan Noesen (OHL Plymouth) 46-23-21-44 (t-6th)
Jordan Fransoo (WHL Victoria) 59-6-13-19 (3rd)
Jakub Culek (QMJHL Cape Breton) 9-4-3-7 (10th) (injured)
Jarrod Maidens (OHL Owen Sound) (injured)
Chris Driedger (WHL Calgary) 30-14-4 2.47 .913
Francois Brassard (QMJHL Quebec) 27-18-4 2.83 .907

Allsvenskan (Swe)
Mikael Wikstrand (Mora) 45-11-14-25 (1st) WJC 6-0-4-4 (1st)

KHL
Nikita Filatov (Salavat) 47-10-11-21 (6th)

NCAA
Ryan Dzingel (Ohio) – 36-14-19-33 (2nd)
Max McCormick (Ohio) – 36-12-15-27 (3rd)
Jeff Costello (Notre Dame) – 28-9-17-26 (3rd)
Bryce Aneloski (Nebraska-Omaha) – 33-5-15-20 (2nd)
Michael Sdao (Princeton) – 29-8-7-15 (1st)
Tim Boyle (Union) – 15-0-2-2 (t-7th)

USHL
Robbie Baillargeon (Indiana/Omaha) – 51-17-21-38 (1st)

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 4, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-Ottawa faces the New York Islanders (8-11-2) this afternoon; the Isles are lead by John Tavares (25 points) and backstopped by Evgeni Nabokov (8-7-2 3.04 .899).  Robin Lehner gets the start and Andre Benoit draws back into the lineup.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Flyer game 13/22.

–Mark Parisi had a lot to say after yesterday’s game and there are a few points I’d add to what he said:
> The Zolnierczyk (who makes his living throwing on-the-edge hits) isn’t about Lundin‘s awareness but because Zolnierczyk left his feet, however, it’s quite likely the NHL will do nothing about it
> I think the line changes made between the first and second period had a negative impact on Ottawa’s play (along with the more obvious impact of only having five blueliners to play)
> Rinaldo is a pest (Mark wasn’t sure)
> I can’t agree with Mark that Kyle Turris played well
> The too-many men penalty was a soft call that rests on the officials, not the players/coaches

-Binghamton defeated Toronto 4-2 yesterday afternoon, with Marc Cheverie making 25-saves to earn the win.  Stephane Da Costa, Fredrik Claesson (his first), Pat Cannone, and Shane Prince scored the goals.  I was able to watch the third period of the game and from what I saw the BSens dominated the play.  Here’s the boxscore.

-Binghamton plays the Marlies (28-19-6) again today; I’d expect Nathan Lawson to get the start.

-Former Sen Bobby Butler is on waivers today.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 3, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa lost 2-1 to Philadelphia this afternoon in a game where they struggled not just for offence but for focus.  The game was punctuated by Mike Lundin getting destroyed by Zolnierczyk who left his feet to knock him out.  Lundin left the game, but in terms of team losses he’s one the Sens can easily afford.  Ben Bishop made 39 saves in the loss, while Mark Methot scored the only goal (somehow squeezing a puck right through Mr. Universe).  I thought the Sens held their own in the first period, but line changes in the second made things worse.  In terms of focus, after the Lundin injury the Sens spent the entire game going after Rinaldo who beat up Kaspars Daugavins who’d come to Lundin‘s defence.  It was a complete waste of time as Rinaldo refused to fight, but it wound up getting Daniel Alfredsson tossed late.  Here’s the boxscore.  I thought Gonchar and Wiercioch struggled on the blueline, while Methot played a great game.  Among the forwards it was primarily the young players who lead the Sens limited charge (with the exception of Kyle Turris whose confidence has not yet returned).

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Bruins game 12/17.

-Binghamton defeated Hamilton 3-2 last night in a game I was able to watch.  Nathan Lawson made 28 saves in the win, but wasn’t a primary factor in the victory.  Cole Schneider, Corey Cowick, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the goals (both Pageau and Cowick had two-point nights), all of which were off of rebounds.  Mark Stone looked rusty in his return to action and was largely invisible.  Here’s the boxscore.

-Binghamton plays Toronto (28-18-6) this afternoon; the Marlies are lead by Ryan Hamilton (36 points) and backstopped by Jussi Rynnas (8-8-1 2.57 .913).

–Scott Burnside writes a bumbling column defending the NHL’s officiating:

Whatever the perception is, or the reality, for that matter, the fact is an independent analysis of calls made on the ice still puts the NHL at about 90 percent efficiency — a number that is in keeping with the other major pro sports in North America, a source familiar with the process told ESPN.com this week.

This laudatory statistic would be much more meaningful if Burnside indicated where it came from, how it was conducted, and who asked to have it done.  In the end however, it’s largely beside his point.

At the heart of the matter this season is the uncomfortable relationship between video and reality.  Every booted call is immediately seen and re-seen by anyone with a mind to watch it via YouTube, etc. The calls are instantly debated and dissected on Twitter, other forms of social media and hockey panels around North America.

Burnside seems to be saying the reality of missed calls is bad because fans are aware of them.  The problem isn’t awareness of what’s happened, the problem is errors that occur and not being corrected.

Is the answer to follow football into a system where video becomes not just a tool, but a crutch on any significant call? The NFL has become almost unwatchable thanks to the reliance on video replay, a bloated exercise in tedium that has gone from embracing technology to becoming wholly dependent on it.

Using the most profitable and viewed sports league in North America as his example of bad simply dynamites his point.  The NHL’s officiating is bad and it’s as much about the non-calls as the actual calls.  The lack of consistency remains maddening particularly since the league continual refuses to commit to solving the problem.  There’s no progressive movement within the NHL to change its system, so I expect things to continue much as they are.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 2, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa lost 2-1 to Boston last night in a game I was unable to watch; Robin Lehner made 44 saves in the loss while Jim O’Brien scored the Sens only goal.  Here’s the boxscore.  All the reports I’ve read about the game indicate Lehner was as stellar as his save numbers indicate, but the team continues to struggle to score in the absence of its stars (and somehow Peter Regin was 0-10 in the faceoff circle, which seems neigh on impossible).  Paul MacLean said:

We were, at times, chasing them. For a lot of the game, they might have controlled it, but we found a way to stay in it. The shot count guy might be a little rusty. I didn’t think the shots (against) were that overwhelming. But we got a point on the road in a tough building. I think (Lehner) had to make four or five big (saves) and that’s what we expected from him. He gave us great goaltending. Every game these (young) guys play in is something. These are great experiences that are going to make them better players.

–Jared Crozier waxes rhapsodically over Eric Gryba, but I can’t join him in moving him up so far on the blueline depth chart.

-Binghamton plays Hamilton (21-26-6) tonight; the Bulldogs are lead by Gabriel Dumont (30 points) and backstopped by Dustin Tokarski (20-10-4 2.38 .905).  Mark Stone and Nathan Lawson are expected to return to the lineup.

-Sens prospect Mikael Wikstrand was nominated as the top junior player in the Allsvenskan, but lost to Caps prospect Filip Forsberg.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

March 1, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment