Well, Anaheim is clearly a defenceman's team. Last night's event skated perilously close to the sort of game I don't enjoy watching, where the play is almost entirely dictated by a suffocating defense. Every time Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza attempted to assemble their rush, they found three Ducks waiting for them across the blue-line. The Senators spent three periods beating their heads against the wall, then scratching their heads trying to figure out how two Ducks could outplay the two Senators on defense.
If Sens goalie Ray Emery weren't on fire, the Senators would have been taken to the cleaners. Neidermeyer was spectacular to watch, and there were moments in the second and third period where you could see the Senators trying to tease apart the Anaheim defense. Too little, too late. I'll be curious to see what sort of strategic changes coach Bryan Murray makes. For the regular season he and the Senators have been capable of readjusting their play with breathtaking results. My hunch, and here I must resort to the precise language of acute analysis, is something will "click" for the Sens and they'll win three straight games. But will it be the next three?
WP,
ReplyDeleteAs the NHL slowly wanes down here south of the border and ends up on channels deep off of the beaten cable trail, it is games like last night's numbing defensive battle that will push the professional game further into the woods.
Did I not like last night's game? No question about it, I loved it. Except, it reminded me of the Devils back in the day when the NHL was still being broadcast by communications companies know to most people. And, if I recall correctly, those meet-your-offensive-threat-at-the-blue-line games did not really spark the folks' attention that the NHL so desperately needed.
I'm really, really starting to hate the Ducks, be they Almighty or not. Are they aiming to be the last NHL team to win the Stanley Cup that's broadcast on tv in the US of A? I'm going to have to either move back to Oh Canada or at least much closer to the border, so I can catch the Canadian broadcasts.
As much as I like the Sen's I found myself cheering for the Ducks again and I think it really boils down to the fact I still miss the Jets. As noted before the Ducks have two Jets and a boy from Winkler, just a stone's throw away in prairie distances. But the icing on the cake is that the Edmonton Oilers were the perennial spoilers to the Winnipeg Jets. And who single-handedly destroyed the Oilers franchise for the next decade? Christopher Pronger of Anaheim!
ReplyDelete(OK - I'm actually sorry for Edmonton but I can't admit that out loud)
The Ducks played with exceptional discipline last night, and there are plenty of "locals" on their payroll, but I'm with Darko on this one: 1-0 games are not good for the NHL!! Randy Carlyle isn't going to budge one inch from something that works, so he'll stick to that accursed trap for as long as it takes Ottawa to figure out how to sneak through it.
ReplyDeleteAll this to say, I'm rooting for the Sens more ardantly than ever.
The future of the NHL is at stake!!!
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