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

You know, a lot of people were asking, "So, is Ottawa coming back tonight?" I replied, "You know, they have been playing so horribly right now, I'm just hoping for one goal!" So when they went down 3-0 (pretty chincy 5-on-3 penalties called, but then again, Ottawa has two of those last game and couldn't score) it was just, "Here we go again!" But they managed to tie it up! They scored not once, not twice, BUT THRICE! And it was nice to see some actual ENTHUSIASM on the ice. I mean, did you see how excited Sean Donovan was when he scored the first one? And when rookie Cody Bass scored goal #3, it was like he just won an Academy award. This entire time you wondered if any of the Sens cared. And the third period I would say they were actually the better team. They gave up some pretty good chances to the Penguins in the final 20 minutes, sure, but most of the play was in the offensive zone, which indeed was a breath of fresh air.

It's unfortunate Martin Gerber's 50+ save performance was wasted tonight. He bailed out the Sens numerous times and really, Ottawa has no business being down just 3-2 after the second. But getting those two goals seemed to boost their spirits and give them momentum for the last 20 minutes. Martin Lapointe's high-sticking penalty that led to the winning goal for Pittsburgh was a bit of bad luck, but, at least they have something to build on and perhaps they can pull out a win on Monday back on home ice.

But, the end result is pretty justified. Pittsburgh was all over the Sens for the first 40 minutes, at one point outshooting Ottawa 20-3. The cliche too is that your best players have to be the best players, and when Dean McAmmond and Sean Donovan are your two best for the night, that is not a good sign. Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza have been brutal these first two games, and I have a feeling Heatley is playing injured (when was the last time you saw his big wind up with a crisp slapshot on net?) while Spezza needs good players to exploit his play making abilities. Heatley, along with either a Randy Robitaille or Martin Lapointe isn't exactly going to set off fireworks. And to add to this, Spezza appears to have suffered some sort of injury as his playing time was cut down dramatically as the game wore on. Just what Ottawa needs...more injuries.

I tried to brighten my spirits after the game by firing up NHL 08 on the 360 with an Ottawa-Pittsburgh matchup, and at one point Wade Redden of all people got into fisticuffs with Ryan Malone (the punk who scored the game winner tonight) and knocked him out! Well, I ended up losing in a shootout so I didn't feel too much better. Nothing Sens-related seems to be going right, so I'm going to try to forget Sens hockey over the weekend, until of course game 3 starts.