Andrej Meszaros is many things to the Ottawa Senators, but the main focus of their offence isn’t one of them, yet on the Sens visit to Long Island Wednesday night it was all Meszaros all the time. The Sens defenceman accounted for both Senator goals in a 3-2 shoot out loss to the Islanders, and if not for a strange bounce he very well have scored the Sens third goal in overtime snatching victory from the Islanders.
The fact that Meszaros provided all the offence on Wednesday tells you a lot about the nature of the game, the first time that the Islanders have won against the Sens since January of 2004.
The Islanders slowed the play significantly in the first two periods by locking down the neutral zone, turning back the Sens attack and slowing down the play at times making the game rather hard to watch.
While it’s understandable we guess that they have to employ a trap like component to their play, we can’t help but have noticed that the Nassau Coliseum was half empty once again, perhaps a sign that a more offensive approach might be needed to bring fans back into the rink.
But as they say a win is a win, and to be truthful the third period play picked up significantly and the overtime was an end to end rush of opportunities, stymied by both Ray Emery and Rick DiPietro.
They set the scene for a lengthy shoot out session which finally went the way of the islanders when Mike Sillinger put away the winning goal after twelve shooters had taken their licks.
The loss was Ottawa’s fourth in a row, an unusual situation for the normally high flying squad, there has been a definite power shortage in the Sens line up the last few games, and while coach John Paddock isn’t pushing any panic buttons, there is a need for the Senators to work their way out of their funk as soon as possible.
The Sens who had ruled the top of the standings for most of the last two months only recently tumbled to second as the suddenly streaking Red Wings passed them by a few days ago.
The Sens can get back to the task at hand on Thursday, as they play host to the Nashville Predators, who are currently 11th in the West and 18th overall in the NHL.
The fact that Meszaros provided all the offence on Wednesday tells you a lot about the nature of the game, the first time that the Islanders have won against the Sens since January of 2004.
The Islanders slowed the play significantly in the first two periods by locking down the neutral zone, turning back the Sens attack and slowing down the play at times making the game rather hard to watch.
While it’s understandable we guess that they have to employ a trap like component to their play, we can’t help but have noticed that the Nassau Coliseum was half empty once again, perhaps a sign that a more offensive approach might be needed to bring fans back into the rink.
But as they say a win is a win, and to be truthful the third period play picked up significantly and the overtime was an end to end rush of opportunities, stymied by both Ray Emery and Rick DiPietro.
They set the scene for a lengthy shoot out session which finally went the way of the islanders when Mike Sillinger put away the winning goal after twelve shooters had taken their licks.
The loss was Ottawa’s fourth in a row, an unusual situation for the normally high flying squad, there has been a definite power shortage in the Sens line up the last few games, and while coach John Paddock isn’t pushing any panic buttons, there is a need for the Senators to work their way out of their funk as soon as possible.
The Sens who had ruled the top of the standings for most of the last two months only recently tumbled to second as the suddenly streaking Red Wings passed them by a few days ago.
The Sens can get back to the task at hand on Thursday, as they play host to the Nashville Predators, who are currently 11th in the West and 18th overall in the NHL.
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