Guest Blogger Octavarium

First off HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

The Sens jet off for a quick tilt against the geriatric NY Islanders tonight. BUT. Before we get to that, let's discuss last night. I have half a season ticket package and got the call from my buddy that perhaps we should attend the Flames game rather than trading it in for some other game. After all, the Flames only come once a year—if at all. In house entertainment was once again tip top because there was very little. To me it seems when the Sens try and do things in house it is goofy and forced. When they leave people alone to watch the game it’s a much more enjoyable experience.

The game itself was a strange affair. The officiating seemed by the book for two periods and then whistles were lost in the third. DJ Smith once again got outfoxed by a superior coach but we shouldn’t be too surprised by that at this point. The Flames are a huge HUGE hockey team. Our defence was taking massive board shaking hits all night. Brannstrom, Chabot, Hamonic and even Brady all had moments of painful reflection on the bench after some bone crunching hits. How did coach Smith respond? Play the fourth line more. WHY!!!!? “I like big guys”. Darryl Sutter would bait our coach time and again by putting Lucic out on the ice. DJ would quickly get the Watson trio out and then the “switch” would happen and that line would get hemmed in their own end. There was a stretch of 8-10 minutes in the third when the Sens could not get out of their own end. That fourth line was on the ice for a lot of it. The Sens didn’t register a shot on net in the 3rd until the 13 minute mark.

Now to the positives. Mads Sogaard looked good. Like early Ben Bishop good. Not a huge sample size but really, there’s no reason Mandolese should see the net. None of the goals were weak and Sogaard played a strong game. Some positive news about Forsberg as well, as no surgery is required for his injured knees. His season is over but he should be good to go next season. No update on Talbot’s return.

Tonight’s game. The Islanders come into this game 2 points back of Washington and one back of Pittsburgh for a wild card spot. The Penguins have games in hand on everyone so New York is really chasing Washington. What can the Sens expect? A similar boring “no finish” affair. As some may have noticed with the Flames, they had no finish. The Islanders don’t either. They’ll buzz around the perimeter until the opposing team makes a mistake. As an Islander fan the goaltending is elite, and the shut down pair of Pelech and Pulock are the envy of most teams but up front there’s just not much there. This is a team that can get easily rattled and if the Sens can use a little flash and dash and get a couple early goals it’s a very winnable game.

Finally, there were some more rumours and conjecture about the sale and the potential owners oh and some guy named Ryan I’m tired of hearing about. As an Ottawa native for all 48 of my years, I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that the NCC will manage to screw this up somehow.

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