-Ottawa defeated Washington 3-1 last night in a game they dominated; Craig Anderson made 18 saves for the win, while Kyle Turris (2) and Cory Conacher scored the goals.  Here’s the boxscore and Ryan Classic‘s summary.

–Mark Parisi takes a look at how the Sens have filled their two long term needs (goaltending and a second line center), with a specific focus on Mika Zibanejad.  It’s well worth reading his article in full and I agree with him that in the short term Zibanejad will fill the third line slot when Jason Spezza returns.

-There’s a lot of excitement around the team because Erik Karlsson practiced today, but should we expect a quick return?  Bryan Murray says Karlsson is 100% healthy and just needs to get into game shape, which on the one hand is very encouraging, but on the other quite vague.  Karlsson said:

It’s only been nine weeks or so. We expected it to take a lot more time. Right now it’s just about getting that normal feeling back being back on skates, getting around and getting the timing back. I’m still taking it day-to-day. I haven’t been able to do a lot of lower body work for a period of time but I think ever since I’ve been able to walk frequently I’ve been trying to keep in shape. Even if I don’t come back and play it’s still good to be in good condition going into the summer. There’s not a timeline, not right now. I don’t think anybody expects more than anything than trying to skate as much as possible and trying to get normal feeling back in my leg. The more I skate, the better I’m going to feel. When the time comes it’s probably going to be a decision made the same day.

–Jared Crozier says the Sens have not pulled any of their goaltenders this year, which is an interesting bit of trivia (I’m not sure it means much more than the goaltending has been good).

-Binghamton plays Manchester (35-31-7) tonight; the Monarchs are lead by Linden Vey (65 points) and backstopped by Martin Jones (25-25-4 2.58 .917).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 19, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa plays Washington (24-17-2) tonight; the Caps are lead by Alexander Ovechkin (48 points) and backstopped by Braden Holtby (20-11-1 2.67 .917).  Craig Anderson will get the start and the Sens lineup remains unchanged.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Carolina game 19/16.

–Gus Katsaros takes a look at Ottawa’s season (as well as Boston’s and Toronto’s), concluding:

When taking the injuries into consideration, it’s incredible that the Senators have as many positive Corsi games.

-I’m a bit puzzled by Senschirp‘s idea:

How do you reconcile the notion of a rebuild when there’s a constant stream of Sens drafts pick in their regular lineup?

Isn’t the nature of a rebuild involve a constant stream of young players enter the lineup?  Are there rebuilds made up of a constant stream of veteran players?  Senschirp wonders if the Sens have truly gone through a rebuild, but I think only he can answer that question as I’m not sure what his understanding of a rebuild is (I assume the confusion is because of how fast the Sens have returned to contention, but that actually has nothing to do with his question).

-As expected Cody Ceci and Matt Puempel have been added to Binghamton’s roster.

-Some housekeeping matters: Binghamton has changed radio station’s (which only impacts our friends south of the border); they’ve also had their playoff schedule posted despite not knowing their opponent.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 18, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 4 Comments

-Ottawa defeated Carolina 3-2 last night; Craig Anderson made 32 saves for the win, while Mika Zibanejad, Milan Michalek, and Chris Neil scored the goals (the latter’s first since February 5th).  Jared Cowen‘s return to the lineup was punctuated by a hit that knocked Jeff Skinner out of the game and resulted in him fighting both Chad Larose and Kevin Westgarth.  Here is the boxscore; Amelia L offers a Star Wars-referenced recap.

-Something of note from the game is the size on Ottawa’s blueline–Sergei Gonchar at 6’2 is the smallest player, with 6’3 Chris Phillips and Marc Methot, 6’4 Eric Gryba, and 6’5 Jared Cowen and Patrick Wiercioch.  I don’t think Ottawa has ever iced such a large group of defenders.

–Bryan Murray fuelled speculation that Erik Karlsson might return this season, but I don’t think too much can be read into comments like this:

Maybe next week, if he feels that he’s close enough to go out and spend 15 minutes at the early part of practice with the team, that would be a good thing for him and obviously a little motivation for the group.

I’m not sure how quickly Karlsson is supposed to transition from a few minutes of practice with the team to playoff action.

-I have to agree with Bobby Kelly‘s theory that Scott Greenham‘s PTO signing by Binghamton must be connected to a potential injury to either Nathan Lawson or Marc Cheverie.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 17, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-The Sens-Bruins game was cancelled in light of the attack on the Boston marathon.  Nichols speculates the game will be re-scheduled to April 28th or 29th.

-Ottawa plays Carolina (17-22-2) tonight; the Hurricanes are lead by Eric Staal (44 points) and backstopped by Cam Ward (9-6-1 2.84 .908).  Craig Anderson gets the start and Jared Cowen returns to the lineup in place of Andre Benoit; there will be no Matt Kassian tonight.

-Binghamton signed Scott Greenham (ECHL 11-19-3 3.39 .908) to an ATO.  Greenham participated in the Sens development camp in 2011 and played in their rookie tournament in 2012, but I’m puzzled by the signing given that the B-Sens have three goaltenders already in place.

-Elmira was crushed 7-2 by Florida and were knocked out of the playoffs, losing the series 4-2.  Louie Caporusso (6-2-8-10 +7) and Ben Blood (6-0-1-1 +2) will presumably be recalled by Binghamton.  We should also expect Cody Ceci and Matt Puempel to join the B-Sens sooner than later.

-There was no update/explanation for Bryce Aneloski‘s play in the CHL in the Sens latest prospect update.

–Tyler Dellow writes a terrific article about the management change in Edmonton and puts his finger on the primary problem for the Oilers in that they’ve failed to surround their players with quality depth.  I’ll also highlight this for toughness fans (via Craig MacTavish):

Grit’s always a huge part of it.  But, also, grit without skill, as I mentioned, is not something’s that’s going to move the dial of our team forward.  There are a lot of areas we’re going to look at over the next little while to try and improve, whether it’s scouting but more prominently player acquisition.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 16, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa plays Boston (26-11-4) tonight; the Bruins are lead by Jaromir Jagr (33 points) and backstopped by Tuukka Rask (17-8-4 1.99 .929).  Inexplicably Matt Kassian slots into the lineup ahead of Guillaume Latendresse–I have to hope the latter has a nagging injury of some sort, since Ottawa’s inability to score has hurt them more than missing “toughness”.  Craig Anderson will get the start.

–Jared Cowen is close to returning to the lineup:

It’s not even about the hip now, it’s just a matter of feeling comfortable, normal, out there.

Once upon a time I would have assumed Eric Gryba would be scratched with Cowen‘s return, but now I wonder now if it will be Andre Benoit.

–Chris comes to the defence of Zack Smith‘s low production by taking a look at what’s changed in how Paul MacLean has used him this year–he plays against the opposing team’s best opposition.  Chris sums it up with:

All these numbers point to Smith being a better player this year despite finding the back of the net less. This goes to show how our perception of a player changes when he isn’t “getting the bounces”, even if on balance he’s playing better.

I’d also point out he’s on a slightly better points-per-game pace than last year, so the only real stumbling block statistically for him is putting the puck in the net and I agree with Chris that his luck is bound to change sooner than later.

-Binghamton lost controversially 2-1 (SO) to Adirondack yesterday, the controversy surrounding a Binghamton goal that could not be reviewed due to faulty AHL equipment.  Marc Cheverie made 28 saves in the loss, while Pat Cannone scored the only goal.  Here’s the boxscore.  The point earned has clinched the B-Sens a playoff spot.

-Bob McKenzie highlights an article from the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology looking at the effects of concussions in the NHL.  It’s a dense read, but worth digging through.

–Lyle Richardson looks at potential compliance buyouts in the off-season and while a number of big names are included (like Roberto Luongo and Brad Richards), they seem less likely than the Mike Komisarek‘s and Rick DiPietro‘s of the world (which is largely Richardson’s sentiment).

-Edmonton fired GM Steve Tambellini today, but that’s less interesting me than the Oilers hiring Scott Howson–whatever anyone thinks of the former Columbus GM, I’m not sure how his addition to the Oiler team is supposed to inspire the fan base.

-ISS has released its latest 2013 draft rankings (for their previous list go here):

1 – Jones, Seth – D – Portland – WHL
2 – Nichushkin, Valery – F – Chelyabinsk Chelmet – RusS
3 – MacKinnon, Nathan – C – Halifax – QMJHL
4 – Drouin, Jonathan – F – Halifax – QMJHL
5 – Barkov, Aleksander – F – Tappara – FinE (+1)
6 – Nurse, Darnell – D – S.S. Marie – OHL (-1)
7 – Zadorov, Nikita – D – London – OHL
8 – Lindholm, Elias – C – Brynas – SweE
9 – Monahan, Sean – C – Ottawa – OHL
10 –Bo Horvat – C – London – OHL (NR) (+14)
11 – Ristolainen, Rasmus – D – TPS Turku – FinE (-1)
12 – Lazar, Curtis – C – Edmonton – WHL (-1)
13 – Shinkaruk, Hunter – F – Medicine Hat – WHL
14 – Pulock, Ryan – D – Brandon – WHL (-2)
15 –Alexander Wennberg – C – Djurgarden – SweJr (NR) (+3)
16 –Valentin Zykov – RW – Baie-Comeau – QMJHL (-1)
17 – Rychel, Kerby – F – Windsor – OHL (-1)
18 – Burakowsky, Andre – F – Malmo – SweAl (-1)
19 – Morrissey, JT – D – Prince Albert – WHL
2o – Gauthier, Frederik – C – Rimouski – QMJHL
21 – J. T. Compher – C – USA Under-18 – NTDP
22 – Santini, Steve – D – USA U18 – NTDP
23 – Hagg, Robert – D – Modo – SweJE
24 – Dickinson, Jason – F – Guelph – OHL (-10)
25 – Anthony Mantha – LW – QMJHL (NR) (+2)
26 –Max Domi – C – London – OHL (+2)
27 – Madison Bowey – D – Kelowna – WHL (-2)
28 – Ryan Hartman – RW – OHL (NR) (-2)
29 – Nic Petan – C – Portland – WHL
30 – Chris Bigras – D – Owen Sound (NR)

Falling out of the top thirty was Ian McCoshen (30).

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 15, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 1 Comment

-A game after the fact The Raaymaker looks at the Neil-Smith-Kassian line, concluding Smith was the lynchpin of their success.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Jersey game 7/17.

–Jean-Gabriel Pageau talked about his season thus far:

Luke [Richardson] helped me a lot, he gave me really good tips all year long. He helped me defensively and offensively, and I think that’s helped my game a lot. At the start [of the season], I didn’t expect to play a game here — and now I have my chance, I just try to enjoy the moment and live like there’s no tomorrow. For now, everything’s been great.

–Craig Anderson compared Ben Bishop to Robin Lehner (link above):

Ben was pretty laid back, he just kind of went with the flow. Robbie‘s pretty intense in there. He likes to get the blood flowing, get his emotions involved. That definitely is an asset he brings to the table. Usually when he’s aggressive and emotional, he’s usually at his best.

–Don Brennan writes about Craig Anderson‘s chance to set an NHL record for GAA and save percentage in a season; it would be a great accomplishment, but it’s also an indication of how much goal scoring has dropped in the league.

-Binghamton crushed Albany 5-0 yesterday; Nathan Lawson picked up the win and the shutout (35 saves), while Fredrik Claesson, Dustin Gazley, Mark Stone, Buddy Robinson (his first), and Corey Cowick each scored; Hugh Jessiman picked up three assists.  It has been an auspicious debut for Robinson, who also led the team in shots last night with six.  Here’s the boxscore.

-The B-Sens play Adirondack (29-36-7) this afternoon; the Phantoms are lead by Jason Akeson (51 points) and backstopped by Brian Boucher (5-7-1 2.67 .902).  There’s little chance Lawson plays a third game in a row, so expect either Marc Cheverie or Andrew Hammond to get the start.

–Matt Weinstein writes a good piece on Luke Richardson’s road to coaching.

–Jack Downing was recalled from Elmira yesterday.

-Elmira defeated Florida 5-1 last night to stay alive in the series; Louie Caporusso had a goal and an assist.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 14, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa defeated the Devils 2-0 last night in an entertaining game reminiscent of the Sens earlier in the season; Ottawa was heavily outshot (33-11), but won via superior goaltending (Craig Anderson got the shutout) and timely scoring (Jean-Gabriel Pageau with his first and Milan Michalek with a goal on his return).  Without Matt Kassian in the lineup Paul MacLean rolled four lines (Cory Conacher played the least).  Here’s the boxscore.

–Scott had the scoring chances in the Flyer game 17/11.

-Binghamton beat Albany 5-3 last night, with Nathan Lawson picking up the win and Cole Schneider (2), David Dziurzynski, Mark Stone, and Corey Cowick scoring the goals.  Free agent signee Buddy Robinson picked up a pair of assists for his first points as a pro.  Here’s the boxscore and the highlights.  The B-Sens play Albany again this afternoon.

-Elmira lost to Florida last night, so they trail the series 3-1 now; Louie Caporusso picked up an assist and Jack Downing had a goal.

–Ken Warren re-visits Randy Carlyle’s crazy explanation for concussions and explores it a little:

If Randy Carlyle’s theory about tight helmets causing the brain to swell – “heat expands and cold contracts,” he said – indirectly leading to concussions, wouldn’t we all be at risk of head injuries by simply wearing a hat in the winter? This being Masters’ weekend, do you think the Maple Leafs coach might just want to take a mulligan on voicing a crazy theory that he didn’t bother running by doctors trained in the field of concussions?

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 13, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

Ottawa has reached the 40-game mark and it’s time to take stock and see how the team has performed.  The Sens went 4-6-0 (here’s the previous ten games) which puts them 6th in the conference and drops them to 4th in their division.  The team’s 99 goals is tied for twelfth in the conference while their 89 goals against remains second.  Ottawa’s powerplay fell to 16th overall (18.0%); and their penalty killing remains 2nd overall (88.1%).  The Sens dropped to the 4th most penalized team in the league; they also dropped to the 14th best team in terms of 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio (1.02).

Player’s stats (INJ=games missed due to injury, SCR= scratched, SUS=suspended, AHL=games in the AHL):

Mika Zibanejad 10-0-9-9 +3 TOI 13:28
Jakob Silfverberg 10-1-5-6 -1 TOI 16:19
Marc Methot 10-1-5-6 +6 TOI 22:28
Colin Greening 10-4-1-5 +3 TOI 14:38
Kyle Turris 10-0-5-5 -1 TOI 19:40
Daniel Alfredsson 10-4-0-4 -3 TOI 19:21
Cory Conacher 10-3-1-4 +1 TOI 14:25
Guillaume Latendresse 10-3-0-3 -5 TOI 15:33
Eric Gryba 10-2-1-3 +5 TOI 21:18
Patrick Wiercioch 10-0-3-3 Even TOI 15:40
Chris Neil 10-0-3-3 +1 TOI 14:18
Andre Benoit 7-2-0-2 -4 TOI 16:21 SCR 3
Zack Smith 10-1-1-2 -2 TOI 15:27
Chris Phillips 10-1-1-2 -8 TOI 21:24
Sergei Gonchar 10-0-2-2 -5 TOI 24:05
Jean Gabriel-Pageau 1-0-1-1 +1 TOI 11:17 [AHL 8-0-2-2]
Mike Lundin 4-0-1-1 -1 TOI 15:30 SCR 6
Erik Condra 10-0-1-1 -1 TOI 13:20
Jim O’Brien 3-0-0-0 -1 TOI 11:25 SCR 3 INJ 4
Mike Hoffman 3-0-0-0 -1 TOI 12:19 [AHL 3-1-3-4] INJ 4
Peter Regin 6-0-0-0 -2 TOI 11:31 SCR 4
Matt Kassian 10-0-0-0 -1 TOI 5:56
Jason Spezza (injured)
Erik Karlsson (injured)
Milan Michalek (injured)
Jared Cowen (injured)

Robin Lehner 2-3-0 2.22 .936
Craig Anderson 0-2-0 1.62 .946
Ben Bishop 2-1-0 2.56 .923

The Sens suffered through their longest losing streak of the season and continue to struggle to put the puck in the net.  It was an awful patch for Chris Phillips who easily led the team as a minus.  On the positive side Marc Methot was a monster offensively and defensively, while the Swedish rookies (Zibanejad and Silfverberg) lead the way offensively.  Turris continues to struggle with scoring droughts, while Gryba seems to have turned the corner in adjusting to the NHL.  Hoffman was solid in his call-up, as was his subsequent replacement Pageau.  Both O’Brien and Regin struggled while Kassian remains inexplicably in the lineup; I’m still waiting for Conacher to break out.  On the whole, given the injury situation the losing streak is something fans should have expected at some point this season and hopefully this will be the only one.  The struggles on the road ought to ring warning bells for anyone who expects Ottawa to make a run in the playoffs.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 12, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: 2 Comments

-The Sens broke their losing streak last night, defeating the Flyers 3-1; Robin Lehner made 24 saves for the win, while Zack Smith (mini-breakaway), Colin Greening (mini-breakaway), and Daniel Alfredsson (empty-netter) scored the goals.  Jean-Gabriel Pageau earned his an assist in his first NHL goal (on Alfie‘s goal), every player’s TOI was in double digits, and Ottawa avoided a third period collapse.  Here’s the boxscore.  Ryan Classic breaks out some Corsi and Fenwick stats for his heroes of the night.

-Ottawa faces New Jersey (15-15-10) tonight; the Devils are lead by Patrik Elias (31 points) and backstopped by Martin Brodeur (10-6-7 2.31 .902).  Milan Michalek will play (no word who will sit, although hopes that it will be Matt Kassian seem forlorn; Nichols speculates it will be Guillaume Latendresse).

-Binghamton plays Albany (29-28-13) tonight; the Devils are lead by Joe Whitney (49 points) and backstopped by Keith Kinkaid (20-16-6 2.69 .906).

-While I think I Tweeted it at the time, I forgot to mention that Mark Borowiecki was named captain of the Binghamton Senators.  Borowiecki talked about the honour:

I was really grateful. It’s a huge honor. Only 60 guys in the NHL and AHL get to wear a C, so it’s pretty special and a big responsibility… I need to make the most of it. I just got to be myself. I think it’s my work ethic that got me there so I’m not going to change anything here. You don’t want to let it go to your head or anything. Obviously I got to step up a little bit more and get my game up to the next level.

There’s no doubt that Borowiecki is right that it’s his work ethic and dedication that are being rewarded.

-Elmira lost game three against Florida in their first round series; Louie Caporusso picked up an assist.

-A bit off topic, but Mark Spector writes a rant ostensibly about Edmonton Oilers management’s failure to surround its young talent with quality veterans (true), but it’s really just a long diatribe on Ales Hemsky.  I’m not going to say whether or not Hemsky is having a good year, but as by far the most productive veteran on the team he’s a very odd player to pick on.  When it comes to Spector, I always have to reference his bumbling lockout piece.  Sometimes when I come across these things I have to assume the journalist just wants more hits on his articles by being controversial.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 12, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment

-Ottawa plays Philadelphia (17-19-3) tonight; the Flyers are lead by Jakub Voracek (39 points), and backstopped by Steve Mason (3-7-1 2.88 .902).  Jean-Gabriel Pageau was called up and will play for the team (it’s a nice compliment to Pageau) in place of Peter Regin, as Paul MacLean can’t or won’t sit the block of wood called Matt Kassian (much to mine and Nichols‘ chagrin).  Robin Lehner will get the start.

–Bobby Kelly delves into the Pageau call-up and I agree with him that his selection is something of a surprise (both Cole Schneider and Mark Stone have been better offensively recently, and Stone has the pedigree), but it’s not undeserved.  Pageau started his AHL career on the checking line until he both earned Luke Richardson’s trust and a flood of players were summoned to Ottawa, but his production has been pretty consistent all season (here’s his 10-game splits from beginning to end: 2/4/3/4/5/8/3).  However, I agree with Bobby that his offensive skills are not the reason he was called up, but rather his overall style of play and as a reward for his year thus far.  He’ll play with Erik Condra and Colin Greening.

–Scott had the scoring chances 15/14 in the Tampa game.

-The WTYKY‘s boys spend a lot of time breaking down Peter Regin‘s performance, which I’d sum up to him being broken down.  Multiple injuries have clearly impacted his effectiveness and I don’t think the organisation will consider keeping him.  There’s more than enough internal talent (as Varada mentions) to replace him.  I wish Regin well, but I expect him to be back in Europe next season.

-Credit to a reader of the blog (Steve) for bringing to my attention that Sens prospect Bryce Aneloski signed an ATO with the CHL’s Allen Americans.  I’ve heard no official explanation for this, so either the Sens have passed on signing Aneloski to an ELC, or else they are too close to the contract ceiling to do so until the off-season.

–Ian Mendes wants officials held accountable–in the sense of reporters and organisations openly being able to question and interview them.  I have no idea why he thinks this will improve officiating, as the NHL used to allow it and the games were as capricious as they are now.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

April 11, 2013
Categories: Binghamton Senators, Ottawa Senators . . Author: Eye on the Sens . Comments: Leave a comment