Sens at Land’s End

Pregame Remarks

Blogger Fashion Watch: I regret to say that I’m not feeling too well. I’ve started to develop a cold, and have stayed in bed in my pyjamas all day. Not to worry, though — I still remembered to put on my lucky Sens earrings (3-0-1) this morning.

Sportsnet reminds us that the Flyers and Sens both started the season slowly, but have recently begun to play better. They don’t need to tell me about the Flyers’ slow start: I have Martin Biron in a couple of hockey pools and he has been majorly dragging me down. He’s on my mental on notice board and just barely avoiding dead to me status right now. All goalies named Martin are a bad bet this season, apparently. Goalies named Alex, on the other hand, are doing pretty well at the moment. I have benched most of the Flyers on my fantasy teams tonight in the hopes that Auld and the Sens will continue their strong play.

In the pregame interview Ian Mendes speaks to the man who brought us all to our feet on Tuesday night: no, not Barack Obama — Mike Fisher.

Oh hey, look at that. It’s Antero Niittymaki in goal. Biron will be doing his sucking from the bench.

First Period

19:30 or so: Dean Brown and Gary Galley, calling the game for Sportsnet tonight, mock Chris Neil for falling down on the first shift of the game, saying he’s got the “semi-Bambi” going. He did look a bit like one of those TimBits players out there.

18:05: The Flyers are buzzing around the Sens’ net, but Jesse Winchester steps in and takes the puck away. He’s been playing well lately on that line with Daniel Alfredsson and Fisher.

15:19: Jason Spezza takes a shot that initially misses the net but then bounces off the boards and goes in off Antoine Vermette’s skate. The play is under review! It’s really hard to tell whether Vermette’s movement should be called a distinct kicking motion. The league rules that it was, though, and it’s no goal.

11:55: Spezza, Dany Heatley, Vermette, Filip Kuba, and Alexandre Picard have a long string short of passes going in the Flyers’ zone. The Winchester-Fisher-Alfie line had a similar period of puck possession with the same defensive pairing earlier on. It seems maybe these lines are starting to develop some chemistry. I wonder if this is what happens when players are allowed to play together in the same combinations for more than three shifts.

11:11: Anton Volchenkov has now doubled his offensive output from last season, getting a goal off a shot from the point. Volchenkov, being awesome, is clearly stepping up to fill that much talked about need for offense from the blue line. The question is: when will Jason Smith do the same?

9:18: Fisher sends the puck to Alfie right in front of the net but Niittymaki makes the save. More nice passing from the 18-12-11 line!

9:02 or so: After a TV time out, we get a funny interview with a very out of breath Winchester. When Mendes thanks him for his time, Winch grins and says something that sounds like “Aaaaaarhh.”

7:50: Vermette is taken head first into the boards in front of the Flyers’ bench by Braydon Coburn. Heatley goes in to retaliate but nothing much comes of it. Vermette gets up, looking unharmed but really pissed off and slightly shaken. “What the hell, dude?! You could have broken my face! My pretty, pretty face,” his expression seems to say. Coburn is assessed a five minute major for boarding. This type of behaviour from the Flyers is, of course, unsurprising.

8:18: Spezza passes from behind the net to Heatley, who is aaaaaaaaall alone in front. Scott Hartnell, realizing that this is a terrible situation for the Flyers, races back to try get to Heatley, but he doesn’t get there until after Heatley has buried the puck. 32 seconds in to the penalty, it’s 2-0 Sens. This is Heatley’s fifth straight game with a goal.

2:58: Heatley and Spezza get some wild chances in front of Philly’s net but they can’t quite capitalize. Spezza bangs his stick on the ice in frustration. The power play ends with no further damage. The Sens had their best chances in the first couple of minutes and the last few seconds.

First Intermission

The Sens have outshot the Flyers 12-3 in this period. I take a look at the NHL’s team stats page and, somehow, the Flyers are leading the league in goals per game while being 24th overall in shots per game. This suggests that the Sens should probably watch out. They really played well in the first, though. I’ve been feeling lately that the team is starting to come together.

Second Period

15:53: Christoph Schubert goes on a great solo rush but, in a slapstick manner, loses the puck right as he gets to the net. Mike Richards then takes Schubert out, and Schubert hits the back of his shoulders on the crossbar. He seems a little sore, but skates off on his own steam.

14:30 or so: The Flyers start to have some pressure in the Ottawa zone, but Auld and the Sens’ team defense come through.

12:42: Boo. Aaron Asham gets a goal after the Sens have some pretty bad problems trying to clear the zone. 2-1 Ottawa now.

11:46: Alfie sends the puck to the front of the net where Winchester shoots it at Niittymaki’s five-hole and … SCORES! Niittymaki seemed to have stopped it for a second but it squeaks through his pads and Winchester has his first NHL goal. He gives a big smile and gets a big cheer from the crowd. The assists go to Alfie and Fisher, and Fisher, who also assisted on the Volchenkov goal, now has four points in two games. It’s a two point night for Winchester as well.

Second Intermission

Shaun Van Allen compares Spezza’s pass to Heatley to a Gretzky pass! On seeing the replay, it really was impressive: past a Flyers’ player and under Niittymaki’s stick right to Heatley’s tape. Shots in the period were 7-6 for Philly. Notably, the Sens have yet to take a penalty in the game.

Third Period

20:00: The third period gets off to a bad start as the Flyers are threatening in front of Auld’s net. The Sens are having trouble getting control of the puck and are trapped in their own zone for most of the first two minutes of play.

13:32: Volchenkov is penalized for taking down Mike Richards and the Sens find themselves shorthanded for the first time in the game. This is no good, because the Flyers’ power play has been excellent lately.

12:24: Dean McAmmond is in on a shorthanded breakaway! He is unable to score, but man he’s fast! Afterwards, Hank McAmmond is shaking his head on the bench due to the lack of a hooking call against Kimmo Timonen, who got his stick around Dean on the play.

11:32: The penalty is killed, and it was the Sens who had the best chances. Take that, awesome Flyers’ power play!

10:23: There’s a scrum in front of the Philly net after Spezza tries to jam at a puck Niittymaki has stopped. After it’s all resolved, Hank is still shaking is head on the bench. I’m glad I’m not the referee who failed to make that call.

10:08: After back to back icing calls against the Flyers, we see a shot of Biron on the bench. Hey Biron! You’re an inadequate goaltender and your eyes make you look like a crazy person! Yeah, that’s right!

6:11: Fisher is called for tripping Scottie Upshall. Craig Hartsburg is now shaking his head but there’s no word on whether Hank has stopped. “If you’re the Flyers, you’ve gotta get one here,” says Gary.

4:11: They don’t though. The Sens kill the penalty and fend off some even strength pressure from the Flyers after it ends, too.

3:14: Alfie carries the puck into the Flyers’ zone, circles around, and passes to Fisher, who takes a hard shot that Niittymaki is able to stop. It’s a dangerous-looking chance for the Sens.

1:41: The Flyers have pulled Niittymaki for the extra man! Chris Neil sees the empty net and hits it from near centre ice. 4-1 Ottawa!

1:15: Schubert is called for tripping, and his streak of penalty-free games is over. Oh Schubert, you were doing so well. For some reason, the Flyers have pulled Niittymaki again, and Volchenkov gets a shot at the empty net. It would have been hilarious if he scored! Actually, it was still kind of hilarious.

Postgame Thoughts

Although the Flyers outshot the Sens in both the second and third periods, the final shots in the game were 25-18 for Ottawa, thanks to that 12-3 margin in the first. Uncle Ben finally appears to have line combinations he’s satisfied with, and it seems clear that sticking with these combinations is paying off as the players are starting to gel with each other. The second line in particular has looked really excellent, and they’re even showing up on the scoresheet now! Offensively, things are just generally going better. Defensively, the team hasn’t given up more than two goals (shootout goals don’t count) in any of their last five games.

Things are definitely looking up.