Your Ottawa Senators battled the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday afternoon in a Thanksgiving matinee. Coming off an uninspired 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars Wednesday night, Ottawa can take solace that their effort was there but the end result was the same. With 44 shots on net, Ottawa threw everything at Fleury but the kitchen sink.
With their improved play, there was many positives from this game.
Pascal Leclaire started his third game in a row and continued his stellar play as of late. Making 38 saves, Leclaire was the Sens best player and kept the game close. Over his last three games, Leclaire sports a .935 save percentage and has allowed only six goals in 96 shots. Even though he went 1-2 in that span, Leclaire was not the reason for those losses.
Erik Karlsson returned to the line-up after sitting out a pair of games and looked like he had regained his confidence. Playing over 22 minutes and assisting on Ottawa’s lone goal, Karlsson was all over the ice making plays offensively and defensively.
Chris Neil had himself a very effective game against the Penguins. Playing over 13 minutes, Neil had three shots on net and annoyed pretty much everybody on the Pittsburgh bench. Driving to the net all game, Neil frustrated Fleury enough to almost see the always exciting goalie fight.
Jesse Winchester continued his strong play as he was the only Sen to beat Fleury. With his physical play, strong board work and his effort, Winchester now has two goals in his last four games.
The offence was much improved as it got 44 shots on net for their highest shot output of the season. Ottawa should of had more than the lone goal, but Fleury stood on his head and seems to have regained his Stanley Cup form.
With every loss, there are negatives.
Ottawa’s defence has improved over the last few games only allowing two goals apiece in their last three games. However, they still let 40 shots against the Penguins and 96 shots over that span. Ottawa’s offence is not good enough to blow teams out, so their D needs to be better.
The penalty kill had a bad game as they allowed two goals in four chances. With the firepower Pittsburgh has, Ottawa knew they had to limit their chances. Now ranked 22nd in the league, Ottawa needs to get their PK back on track.
Nick Foligno has now gone goal-less in 23 games this season. Enough said.
Team toughness was questioned when Erik Karlsson was hit from behind by cheap-shot artist Matt Cooke. No Sen came into defend Karlsson as the kid laid on the ice grasping for air. With Karlsson being the future of the Sens blueline, someone needed to come in and give Cooke a punch to the head. But give credit to Karlsson for getting up and giving Cooke the “I’ll get you next time” stare down.
Here are the game highlights courtesy of NHL.com.
***Three Stars***
First Star: Marc – Andre Fleury – earns it with 43 saves and an amazing performance.
Second Star: Pascal Leclaire – earns it with 38 saves and also an amazing performance.
Third Star: Erik Karlsson – was all over the ice in his return to the line-up.
With their much improved play, Ottawa deserved a better outcome then a 2-1 loss. But this game can be looked at as a turning point in their current slump. If they play like this every game, Ottawa will be on the winning side of the score more times than not. The reality of this loss is that Ottawa has now lost six out of their last eight games and are falling in the Eastern Conference standings. With a winnable game on Saturday night against the Leafs, Ottawa needs to win to stay afloat. ‘Til next time, GO SENS GO!!!!!
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