The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

The first three games of the Penguins-Senators series have demonstrated to me Ottawa is the better team and Pittsburgh should be thankful they're not down 3-0.

The Sens seem to have more puck possession, attacking the Penguins zone more often and are outhitting, outshooting and outchancing their opposition. The Pens have been resilient and aren't afraid to get their nose dirty as already they are casualties on both teams (Patrick Eaves for Ottawa and Rob Scuderi for Pittsburgh) demonstrating both teams are willing to pay the price. Ottawa's experience and composure so far seem to eclipse the "nothing to lose" attitude of the many playoff rookies of Pittsburgh.

It was nice to see Ray Emery make a few big saves after playing some average hockey the first two games. You can't lay the blame of the game 2 loss at Emery's feet, at the same time, your goalie does have to make the occasional big save to give your team a chance. Perhaps because a few more shots went through, he had the opportunity to make some good stops and he delivered the goods.

Daniel Alfredsson has probably played his best playoff hockey these last three games in his entire career. We're seeing a little more emotion from him and his team is feeding off of it. I liked his big hit on Gary Roberts in the third period tonight, not to mention his not too subtle check on Colby Armstrong, probably to remind him to keep his head up after his run on Eaves a little earlier.

Laying an egg so far is Wade Redden. His powerplay time has been reduced and he seems to be consistently outmuscled for the puck, including being directly responsible for the Penguins' game-tying goal yesterday. Is this the result of signing for $6.5 million a season? I've seen him play better, so I'm not going to give up on him yet. Maybe he's playing injured?

As an aside, I found it quite hilarious CBC decided to interview Chris Neil about the hit on Eaves by Armstrong. Neil claims it was a late hit and that "when his head his down" he'll get his "payback". Uh, Mr. Neil...Chris Drury incident? And I'm not sure if announcing a player will get some "payback" is grounds for a fine or suspension, but he should be a little more careful with the words he chooses.