Guts and Glory Prevail

Last night was a frenzy at Scotiabank Place. I don’t know if it was the rompus and bastard-like  passionate Hab fans that made it so damn satisfying to see Ottawa complete the comeback and win 4-2 despite the antics of Kerry Fraser, but that was one good time. Montreal had their feet on the gas in the 1st where they got two goals out of it, but after that it was all Pascal Leclaire. He completely owned the Habs, where Ottawa took over and stymied them. He didn’t have the greatest start from his freak injury, but he really does make a difference with this club.

I don’t want to talk about the no-goal, but as everyone is saying, Mr.Fraser has to find another day-time job is this is going to continue. First, clearly Neil did not interfere with Goosegg Halak, he was just making a smart play and putting his arse right in front of Jaro. If that was illegal in the NHL, Tomas Holmstrom wouldn’t have a career. Secondly, as Sens Chirp mentioned, the referees came out with another excuse. This time they said Neil was “too deep in the crease”. As Dave says, that rule was abolished a couple of years ago. Weird occurences.

This season has to be called the “Depth Year”. By this time Ottawa had been shutout 4 times last season. This season, they’ve only been shutout once. Last season, the main scoring threats were Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson and maybe Nick Foligno. This season, we have Spezza, Alfredsson, Michalek, Fisher, Kovalev, Foligno, and possibly Neil. 3 of those guys are injured, so you better believe how hard it is for Ottawa to win these days. Peter Regin should have more than 4 goals this season, but he had a slump for some time but now he’s back playing on the first line. Chris Neil had doubled his goal total from last season, and his physical presence is essential, it seems in a Sens win. Ryan Shannon is back into his late last season form, which is always good. You also had to love it how relieved Chris Campoli was to get an emty netter.

It will be hard for Erik Karlsson to get back in the lineup. Chris Campoli has been playing better andb etter each game with Filip Kuba and he instantly injected some life on the PP last night. Alexandre Picard has been playing well, and his mobility is valuable even though his defensive mistakes cost us. Last night he lost sight of Benoit Pouliot, where he scored the Habs’ 2nd of the night. It would be possibly interesting to see a Karlsson-Carkner pairing, but is Special K will get back in the lineup, it will likely be with Kuba.

Next up is a home date with the Colorado Avalanche. These guys have to be the surprise of the year with their pathetic depth and lack of real defensive defenseman. Some guys have stepped up for this team including the two amigo rookies in Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly. Go over to Mile High Sticking to trash talk about how better our team is. Ok, you’ve got me, stop being so nitty-picky.