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

I said at the start Penguins would take it in five. If there was a game Ottawa could win though, it would be the first home game after dropping the first two in enemy territory. It almost worked in Cinderella-like fashion, with a sense of excitement from a loud Scotiabank Place crowd that captain Daniel Alfredsson was making an early return from his MCL injury. Save us Alfie, save us! It seemed to work...they were controlling the play for the first period. "Where was this the last four months?" I thought to myself. And hey, then they scored the first goal! I thought the stars were aligning just right. But, wishful thinking.

Penalties have been killing the Sens for a long time, but tonight took the cake. Hats off to Chris Neil for his trifecta of idiot plays. Finish your checks, play physical, fine, but be smart about it. His first body check was okay, but then he decides to punch the guy in the face! What the HELL was he thinking? Then he decides to cross-check a guy in the back after the whistle: Asinine. Then, once again for old time's sake, a punch to the face after the play is stopped. Brutal, selfish and costly.

Commentators Jim Hughson and Glenn Healy thought it amusing Shean Donovan was called for holding the stick when he ripped it out of the hands of a Penguins player. I wasn't laughing. I thought that was the stupidest, bone-headed penalty out of the bunch. And he actually argued to the ref about it! All this time you're getting sent to the box, you're not on the attack and you're on your heels in your own end. There's some penalties that are just bad luck, such as Dany Heatley's high stick in the third, but what was Cory Stillman thinking taking out Malone at the knees? That's laziness, plain and simple. Man, do I wish Patrick Eaves and Joe Corvo were still here.

Ottawa made it competitive for two periods. But they shot themselves in the foot throughout the game but especially in the third, a story we've heard many times in the last four months, and being down 3-0 in the series, well, they aren't going to battle back from this deficit: It's going to be a sweep. And to think I actually was concerned I might miss game 5 because I'll be watching UFC in Montreal this Saturday.

So now I ask, end this series, please, spare me anymore pain. Let's talk about the moves they have to do for the summer to try to put together a competitive squad for the 2008-09 season. Let's start by bringing in Pat Burns as coach and go from there.