Ladies and Gentleman, Ringmaster Clouston!

Last night was a shame to watch. A team that was soaring and rocking to new heights a month ago is now facing a losing streak since the 5-game down streak back in the beginning of January. Two straight 4-1 losses to teams like the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes who have struggled to score this season is pretty bad if you think about it. I’m still in the faith that’s it’s a post-apocalyptic Olympic hangover, but if they keep losing like this, there will be critics and cynics that start barking on the tail.

I must say CC made a great decision to put Pascal Leclaire in yesterday against the Canes. Good chance for him to step up and a re-thinker for Brian Elliott. Well, it didn’t work, and to wake up this team, Clouston needed to pull Leclaire. Brian Elliott will start against Toronto, and don’t be surprised if he rides the pine for the rest of the season with the exception of back-to-back games where Leclaire could be put in for one of the 2.

Now, onto happier stuff. Matt Cullen + Daniel Alfredsson = magic. Those two were paired together along with Mike Fisher late in the 3rd and you could clearly see the results. Hard work, forechecking, balanced play, and a goal for Cullen. Those three should be paired together on the first line on Saturday. Leave Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza with Jesse Winchester, while pair together Alex Kovalev, Ryan Shannon, and Peter Regin. Andy Sutton and Erik Karlsson play surprisingly well together, so that’s always good.

One last thing. Brian Lee is done in Ottawa, book it.