Sunday, November 25, 2007

Sens skidding on the ice


Winter arrived in Eastern Ontario this week, a nasty little weather system that dumped snow and coated roads with ice making for slipper conditions.

It would seem that the members of the Ottawa Senators are having a bit of a problem getting their winter skills into shape, like a car on the Queensway they have hit a bit of a skid and are hoping to turn the wheels in the right direction to get out of it.

The Sens lost their third game in a row, and fourth of five games, a most unusual situation in recent years, as they let a 2-1 lead at the end of the first get away from them. Allowing the Flyers to not only get back into the game but to take the lead and hold on for victory, despite a number of unsuccessful Ottawa power plays..

The Flyers chased starting goaltender Martin Gerber from the game in the second period after Gerber let in a bad goal, the flyers third of the game. Gerber left the game after facing 25 shots; Ray Emery took over an faced 16 shots of his own, surrendering one to give the Flyers the win. The recent struggles for the Sens won’t do much to quell the controversy over starting goaltenders, with Gerber allowing a weak looking goal to give the Flyers a life, Ray Emery may find that the battle to get back the number one spot is back on.

Daniel Briere proved pivotal in the Flyers victory, scoring twice on the way to the Flyers success, while Antero Niittymaki received the start for the flyers stopping 26 of the 29 shots directed his way.

The problem for Ottawa was an inability to shut down the Flyers attack, with uncharacteristic miscues on defence and in the neutral zone. They were mistakes that the Flyers did not hesitate to take advantage of.

The Sens Captain Daniel Alfredsson missed the game on Saturday, due to a groin injury, a significant missing ingredient considering the start to the season he has had so far.

While they aren’t panicking in Ottawa, they are expecting that head coach John Paddock will be working them hard in practice over the next few days, to knock down any of the bad habits they’ve shown in the last few games and to refocus their sight on the job at hand.

They have a break now until Wednesday when the travel to New York to play the Islanders on Long Island. Four days to gry and get everyone back on the same page.


Philadelphia Inquirer--Another giant falls to Flyers

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