A Better Week
It was a better week for the Ottawa Senators, who followed up an exciting shootout loss on Saturday to the New York Rangers with two wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The win over the Leafs on Tuesday was big, if only for the fact that it was the type of game they must win if they want to be considered a playoff contender. It certainly wasn’t their best game of the season, but with a little help from their goaltending they were able to eke out a win. All in all, the offense had a decent number of chances, the team showed a little toughness and grit (four fights in the game), and most importantly they got that big game out of Pascal Leclaire.
As I mentioned last week, the Senators were looking to be coming down with another case of goaltender controversitis this season, as Leclaire has struggled to find consistency. After a solid game from Brian Elliott in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers, people were starting to ask whether he would once again become the number one goalie by default.
Despite Elliott’s big game against the Rangers, I thought Cory Clouston made the right decision going back to Leclaire for the Toronto game. He made a statement that needed to be made, in that Leclaire is the team’s number one goalie, and should be given the opportunity to prove himself. Seeing as this was the case, it was crucial that Leclaire get the win on Tuesday, lest the questioning begin to increase in volume.
He looked a little shaky at times, occasionally losing sight of the puck, but Leclaire made the huge saves that he needed to make. While Mike Fisher was the game’s number one star, it was Leclaire who stole this one from the Leafs. He held fast in the third period, when the Sens started to let off the gas and allowed the Leafs to unleash a flurry of shots. The final shot count was 32-21 in favour of the Leafs, including a 15-4 advantage in the third.
Leclaire followed this performance up with another solid game against the injury-depleted Penguins. He helped maintain a 2-1 lead, in what had been a fairly tight game, into the third period where the Senators blew the game wide open. He only let in a second goal to Evgeni Malkin on the power play late in the third, when the game was already over.
The game also featured a six goal offensive outburst not generally seen from the Sens this season, especially considering the goal scorers. Chris Kelly finally got his first of the season on a nice snapshot on a breakaway, while Matt Carkner and Jonathan Cheechoo both got their second goals of the season. Even defensive defenseman Chris Phillips got in on the action, potting his second and third goals of the season, including the one that finally chased Marc-Andre Fleury from the net.
This explosion of offense from a few unlikely sources was timely, as the Sens will need a little help while they are without the services of winger Alex Kovalev. He left quickly after the Pittsburgh game to fly back to Russia as a result of the death of his mother in law. The trio of Kovalev, along with Mike Fisher (5 points in 2 games) and Nick Foligno (2 points in 2 games), have been the Sens’ best line of late.
Fisher himself has arguably been the team’s best player so far this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him playing minutes on the top line when the Sens take on the division leading Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Overall, the game against the Sabres should be a good indicator of whether this team can translate a good week into a good month, or just another week in an up and down year.
