SB Nation - Jarkko Ruutu

Silver Nuggets: Leclaire starts, Donovan (!) and Neil are back

PeterR — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:22:55 -0000

Pascal Leclaire starts in net tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Chris Neil and, surprisingly, Shean Donovan are back in the lineup tonight, while Chris Campoli falls off as a healthy scratch. (Twitter)
In practice today, Peter Regin took over the top centre spot alongside Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek, while Jesse Winchester fell all the way to the fourth line. Combos: Michalek-Regin-Alfredsson, Ruutu-Kelly-Neil, Cheechoo-Fisher-Kovalev, Donovan-Winchester-Shannon. (Twitter)
Cory Clouston and others are wondering why the hell the Senators have gone three games this season without a powerplay. One good point: It's not because the Sens whine too much, because the Senators aren't being assessed unsportsmanlike penalties. (CP)
Without a goal in 12 games, Alfredsson is looking for an answer to solve his career's longest goalless drought. (Sun)
Neat-O article about Erik Karlsson and his hockey journey. (Sens)

Ken Warren and The Hockey News assembled a 'team of the decade', and three Senators made it: Alfredsson, on the second line, while Neil and Jarkko Ruutu each take a wing alongside Rod Brind'Amour on the fourth line. (Metro Ottawa)
The Senators re-assigned Joshua Hennessy and Mike Brodeur back to Binghamton on Tuesday. (Sens)
With Brodeur back in Bingo, and CHRIS HOLT! playing like a real pro, it's a serious question of who will be assigned to Elmira of the ECHL: Holt or Andy Chiodo, who hasn't been playing so well. That question will be answered after Christmas, apparently. (Sharp)
I haven't seen much of the World Junior pre-tournament games, but word is Jared Cowen has been part of the top defensive pairing, alongside Alex Pietrangelo. (Bob McKenzie)
With huge attendance problems at Scotiabank Place, the Senators have cut ticket prices for a whole whack of games in the new year. I kind of thought, at first, it was too bad, but it means tickets are cheaper, which is a good thing. (Globe & Mail)

Senators shut out by Thomas, Bruins win 2-0

PeterR — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:29:23 -0000

More photos » by Sean Kilpatrick - AP

3 days ago: Ottawa Senators' Chris Kelly, left, get pushed around by Boston Bruins' Zdeno Chara, of Slovakia, as Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas keeps his eyes on the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa on Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Sean Kilpatrick)

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A 2-0 loss was certainly not the result the Ottawa Senators wanted when they were set to take on the Boston Bruins Monday night, but it's the kind of thing Ottawa has probably come to expect when facing Tim Thomas in nets. It was a very tight game, for the most part, with both teams exchanging shots, scoring chances, and big saves, until Boston broke it open in the third period. The Senators couldn't beat Thomas to get back into the game after going down, and that was all she wrote.

Sens killer: Tim Thomas
There is only one tonight. The Level 12 ogre-mage* continues to shut down the Senators whenever he plays them, and has now won the last ten games he's played against Ottawa. He stopped all 29 shots he faced tonight, none of the saves standing out as highlight-reel stops, but huge nonetheless. He's become legendary amongst Senators killers, and could enter the category reserved for Ed Belfour and Gary Roberts if these teams ever meet in the playoffs. It's true that Chara could probably also be classified as a Sens killer, but doing so would downplay the amount of killing that Thomas inflicted.

Sens heroes: Brian Elliott, Alex Kovalev, Jarkko Ruutu
For the first two periods, Elliott was among the Senators' strongest players against Boston. He was making strong saves, with 12 in the first alone, and kept Ottawa in the game through the second period when it looked like they were being brutally outplayed. Neither goal was particularly awful, although the team needed Elliott to stop the very stoppable second goal. Still, Ottawa had no business staying in that second period, if not for Elliott.

Kind of looked like Kovalev enjoys the physical challenge of going up against Zdeno Chara tonight, which seems like the opposite of what you'd expect. Of particular note was a play in the first period, where Kovalev rushed to beat Chara and kind of did, before being taken down hard by Chara behind the net. And, near the end of the game, he even got into a sort-of fight with former teammate Steve Bégin. It was an uncharacteristically gritty, hard-working game for Kovalev, and perhaps if Ottawa got a powerplay opportunity (more on that later), he would have made some magic happen for the Senators' offence.

Of all Senators, Ruutu had the best scoring chances. He had a great opportunity short-handed after Patrice Bergeron coughed up the puck, he was sent on a breakaway by Chris Phillips late in the game. Obviously, he couldn't convert any of the chances he had, but it was a strong game for the pest nonetheless.

(Read more... )

Sens zeros: Josh Hennessy, Erik Karlsson
Might not be fair to put Hennessy in this category considering he only had 5:02 in ice time, he gave the puck away for what would ultimately be the decisive goal. He didn't do much else on the night, and that makes it even uglier for the guy. If it's any consolation for him, though, it wouldn't matter how well he played tonight; when Chris Neil returns to the lineup on Wednesday, Hennessy is (in all likelihood) right back to Binghamton.

One kid who's not going to be going back to Binghamton, though, is Karlsson. He was softer on the puck tonight, for whatever reason--maybe he was hesitant because the Bruins are pretty big, or he was just tired after an emotional game last game, or maybe he's sick of playing with Filip Kuba while Kuba drags his ass all over the ice (seriously, the veteran has to pick up his game). Karlsson was soft in front of the net on Bergeron's game-winning goal, and that's why the rebound went in instead of getting cleared harmlessly to the corner.

Why does this keep happening: Zero powerplays
For the third time this season, the Senators played a saintly team, and were therefore given no powerplays on the night. I could bring up instances where Boston should have been assessed powerplays, we could talk about whether or not the Senators are getting in positions to draw penalties, or whatever else, but we could also mention an old cliche: One is an event, two is a coincidence, three is a trend.

Ugly stat of the night: Jesse Winchester 5-for-21 in faceoffs
I guess the faceoff magic Winch had in his stick for his first couple games on the top line had worn off before tonight, because he was absolutely destroyed in the faceoff circle tonight, with a 24 percent faceoff win number. You've heard it before, but it's not easy for his line to get offence going without the puck, and that's even more devastating because it meant the puck was away from Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek. No one else on Ottawa was below 50 percent in faceoffs.

Commenter of the night: Dany Hea-Traitor
Partied like a rock star who's mildly funny at times.

* - Nickname explanation: Ogre because he's short, mage because he wears a mask/cage hybrid he calls a 'mage', and Level 12 because it makes it even nerdier.

Mark's take: I didn't see this game, but the way Tim Thomas plays against Ottawa, I'm not surprised. I would, however, like to point out that Filip Kuba was a team worst minus two on the night. Kuba's last three games: minus three, minus one, minus two. His December reads like a first grader learning subtraction. I realize plus/minus can be a deceptive stat, but it's not unfair at this point to ask for more defensively from him. At the very least, if he is going to be on the ice giving up goals, he needs to provide some kind of offensive support to balance it out. Isn't that why Bryan Murray signed him?

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres

Rafal Ladysz — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:31:27 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

6 days ago: Buffalo Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera, of Slovakia, left, congratulates Sabres left winger Thomas Vanek, of Austria, center, after his goal as Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Jason Blake skates past during the third period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Buffalo won 5-2. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

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Winning isn't achieved by the deserving side sometimes and the Buffalo Sabres found momentum at the hands of both goaltenders Friday. Ryan Miller made the ~~big~~ routine saves and Vesa Toskala fumbled a Toni Lydman shot that would have went wide of the net leading to a second period onslaught. Toronto was intense, quick and the better squad but succumbed to Buffalo much like they in turn do to the Ottawa Senators. With the Senators and Bruins both losing, the Sabres have extra breathing space in the Northeast Division.

Food poisoning or not, the Sabres need to have a sophisticated plan for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury isn't going to gift wrap a goal and he can steal a result too. And where Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers missed prime scoring chances, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin won't. These two teams split the season series in 2009 with both winning once on the road.

Ten thoughts on the game below.

First and foremost, Paul Gaustad made his much appreciated return to the line-up yesterday racking up 19:36 in ice time, a plus-one rating and went 12-for-15 in the face-off circle. It was really evident how much he was missed in the last department during his absence. Gaustad's presence is assuring because you always know what you'll get from him and that's a lot if I may say so.
Crosby is having some year with 22 goals and 20 assists in 34 games. On pace for 52 goals, he's added another dimension to his game by firing the puck 128 times on target or 13 less than Alexander Ovechkin albeit he competed in seven more matches. Regardless, Crosby is staggeringly threatening with this new approach.
Miller was brilliant in fending off Toronto so Patrick Lalime will start for Buffalo. In his last game, he stopped 39 Chicago Blackhawk shots for his first victory of the season and has to be looking forward to a second large task in the span of eight days.
Sergei Gonchar has 19 points in 23 games but the Penguins have another exciting offensive defenseman. Alex Goligoski has an impressive 17 points in 25 games along with a plus-12 rating bringing excellent offensive instincts and knowledge. When Gonchar retires, look for this kid to quarterback the Pittsburgh powerplay for years. Sorry Kris Letang.
Buffalo's closest forward to consistent production has been Derek Roy who has ten points in the last 11 games. He had a goal against the Maple Leafs as did Thomas Vanek and the Sabres could use their top levels if they're to one-up the Penguins.
Pittsburgh welcomed Chris Kunitz back last weekend after a one-month layoff and he has two points in three games since. Playing with Crosby and Bill Guerin, the winger is a gritty individual who can hit hard and provide some offense.
Suffering a concussion from a dirty Jarkko Ruutu check, Patrick Kaleta is out again. Nathan Gerbe remains questionable with groin issues. Pittsburgh has a clean bill of health throughout the roster.
Jordan Staal has 14 points in 16 games, Malkin has 17 in 14 and Guerin has 12 in 16. Pittsburgh thrives on the powerplay usually and the Sabres must keep their feet moving to avoid any lazy infractions.
The line of Gaustad, Adam Mair and Matt Ellis was flying yesterday with their fore-checking, cycling and work along the boards. Ellis scored his second marker of the year and for a guy that works as hard as he does, it was well earned.
Pittsburgh and Buffalo are close in a few categories like points, wins, special teams, shots on goal per game and face-off percentage. A back and forth affair is expected between two quick squads that can counter-attack in a heartbeat.

Buffalo hasn't shown worry to facing the more gifted NHL clubs because after all, they are in that position themselves currently. Lalime will look to prove that he can take the reigns in Miller's days off and that would make the season more comfortable for all. Easier said than done when Pittsburgh has no injuries at all.

New Jersey Devils Deny the Ottawa Senators Points with 4-2 Win in Martin Brodeur's 1,030th Game

John Fischer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:52:53 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

There was a lot of hitting going on in tonight's game, but the Devils hit Ottawa hard in response to their goals with two of their own. And then Bryce Salvador took this one shot... (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Only one record was broken tonight, Martin Brodeur is now the all-time leader in games played by a goaltender with 1,030 games. In this 1,030th game of his career, Brodeur was very solid, faced 29 shots, and survived a collision with Jonathan Cheechoo. His saves kept the Ottawa Senators from taking over the second period en route to a 4-2 win by the New Jersey Devils.

First and foremost, tonight's game was vastly better by both the home and away teams than the Devils-Montreal game on Wednesday. The fans were more vocal in their chanting, the intensity on the ice was much higher, and both teams actually tried to win tonight's game. For a neutral, this game had it all - plenty of hits, big saves, fluke goals (one of which was absolutely hilarious), and slick goals.

Now, let's get to the analysis. Despite a 7-2 record this month, the Devils haven't been getting results because they've been the flat-out superior team on the ice. They've been getting them by being the better team for stretches of the game (usually a period or so) and holding on to their leads. Tonight's game would fall into that category. Don't get me wrong, the Devils were much better tonight than they were on Wednesday overall. However, was it a solid, complete effort? No. And the Devils should be thankful it wasn't for the Senators either.

NHL.com has their recap up, complete with links to the boxscore and other stats. Peter R has an excellent recap already up from the Sens' perspective at Silver Seven. Ottawa fans are right to be frustrated about a 0-for-6 performance on the power play as well as the fact that their goals didn't really come from the run of play. Read on further for my thoughts on the game.

Let's start off with some praise. The Devils' special teams were very good tonight. After a miserable power play performance on Wednesday, the Devils were better on the man advantage. OK, Rob Niedermayer took a dumb/cheap (depends on your perspective) high stick to negate a second period power play; and the Devils didn't do much on the power play late in the third. But they did score on their first power play with an excellent set-up by Andy Greene that made it easy for Jamie Langenbrunner to put home. How the Ottawa Senators didn't jump up on Greene or prevent Langenbrunner from getting behind them that close to Brian Elliott is beyond me. Well done and for converting one of them, that is a result and that's an definite improvement alone over Wednesday's 0-for-5 performance.

Apparently, that was the only shot they put on Elliott on the power play tonight. I would have liked them to attempt to put more on net on that third power play, but they didn't have to though. New Jersey was up 4-2 and just by holding onto the puck and cycling, the Senators' chances of a comeback became bleak and so there you have it.

But the real stars on special teams were Martin Brodeur and the penalty killers. They were busy, but they were ruthlessly effective. The Devils took 6 penalties tonight, and even a 5-on-3 disadvantage for 1:22 in the third period. Normally, I'd be screaming about this type of discipline. Yet, I felt that some of the calls the refs made were, how should I put this, "iffy." Ottawa got away with similar behavior - even Cheechoo colliding his knee into Martin Brodeur's head got nothing from the refs; but the Devils seemed to get caught with restraining fouls.

No matter, the killers stepped up and played huge. They remained poised in their own end, they prevented Ottawa from getting to any rebounds, and their clearances were mostly good. Even in the second period in killing off Jamie Langenbrunner's "tripping" call, two Devils sticks were lost and the PK units were still out there getting stops. Solid stuff. They even outletted three scoring chances after killing first and second calls on the 5-on-3, but the attempts on net weren't so good. Even so, they were great; Brodeur came up big on 9 power play shots against (3 from that 5-on-3) and the Devils really roared on the ice after that last big kill. Great work by the PK units for New Jersey.

However, let's go onto a mixture of praise and criticism. Before all this, I advise you to check out the game highlights from NHL.com to get a brief remainder on all the big plays in the game.

The Devils did a relatively good job for the first 40 minutes of the game. The key word here is relatively. Relative to the Senators, the Devils held up well. They kept pace with them in shots (20-22, Ottawa after the second), they battled with the Senators in a physical way (the official stats show the Devils outhitting the Senators 36-27), and the Devils responded to Ottawa's goals with goals of their own. After the Senators would have a few good shifts, the Devils would go out and do the same. Were the Devils great? Were they controlling the game? No, but they weren't letting Ottawa dictate the game either. After all, their first goal was a bizarre fluke from Alexandre Picard from the point that just found it's way in. It's not like they were bossing the Devils around in the first or second periods.

Yet, the second period in particular was just so odd. Brodeur had to be called on to make huge saves; but he was beat off a fluke deflection and hung out to dry on a bad line change by the Devils. In all fairness, Jarkko Ruutu made an excellent move on his breakaway to ensure Johnny Oduya wouldn't stop him at the last moment. In fact, the Devils committed multiple bad line changes, where the defense fortunately recovered or Ottawa duffed the shot. I liken that period to that sandwich cookie you can get at the Mrs. Field's kiosk on the lower concourse. The icing in the middle of the cookie was all over the place, much like the Devils' defense for much of the second period. Sloppy, full of sugar, and making you wonder whether it was a good choice to pay $5.50 for such a filling, unhealthy cookie. Yet, the two cookies (Brodeur and the Devils' offense), ensured that the icing (defense) wouldn't fall onto the ground or on your clothes. Brodeur made some huge stops on the Senators, and the offense put 8 on Elliott to keep them honest. Most notably, Brian Rolston and Jay Pandolfo scored some pretty good goals to keep the Senators down and the Devils up 3-2. Was the sandwich cookie good? Eh, it was OK. Was it a solid period for the Devils? No, but relative to the Senators' performance, it was decent.

Yes, that's my metaphor and I'm sticking to it. Moreover, I believe that second period performance was the best second period effort I've seen from the Devils since the Buffalo game despite it's flaws.

Then the third period came and the Devils played passive hockey for most of the first 15 minutes. OK, I get that the Senators had an extended power play complete with a two man advantage. I get that the Devils did battle for possession throughout the period. But only 3 shots on net? One of which being the most hilarious fluke goal I've seen for the Devils in years? I know this was in the highlights, but it deserves it's own video.

AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Poor Brian Elliott! The other goals were not totally his fault and he played pretty well, but this was bad. Caught off his line on a routine save and the worst possible scenario just happened! Bryce Salvador scored his first goal of the season and did so in a way to make Ilkka Pikkarainen's first goal of his NHL career look like a goal scorer's goal. Wow. Fortunately for Elliott, it wasn't the game winner. But it did drop Ottawa's confidence as well as make the game even more of a challenge.

Still, the Devils didn't build much on the goal; what really got them going was the euphoria of killing off a 5-on-3 while up by two goals. And now I'm scratching my head. Yes, this is what I wanted to see; but why could we not see this earlier in the game? Or even earlier in the third period? The Devils only put 3 shots on Brian Elliott and that's really concerning given that the entered the period with a one goal lead. Why so passive? Did Salvador's strike put them more at ease? Did they think they could sit on the lead? Was it just that Ottawa was that aggressive going forward (possible, they were down one). Was it something else? The Devils are 7-2 this month and I'm baffled at how they keep getting results with less than 60 minute efforts.

I'm also baffled with Zach Parise. Despite what happened in practice yesterday, Jacques Lemaire had him playing with Travis Zajac all night long. He had an early breakaway that Elliot did very well to stop and throughout the night, he seemed a bit lost. Yes, he had 3 shots on net (more than any Devil); but I think the frustration at him not scoring any goals in this month is starting to set in. Think about it. In that time frame, Ilkka Pikkarainen has scored his first goal; Jay Pandolfo scored his first goal since his injury tonight; and Bryce Salvador opened up his account with a bizarre goal. But Parise? Nope. Zajac was fairly quiet tonight and was beaten plenty on faceoffs (2 for 6). Maybe they do need to be split up for a few games.

Also, now that I'm looking at the stats, I'm also baffled with Nicklas Bergfors only playing 9:26? Was he OK? I mean, Pikkarainen got more time (10:14) than him. Given that he put up no shots and he was most notable coming out of the box for second call on the 5-on-3, getting the puck, closing in on the keeper, and whiffing on a shot; maybe he wasn't. Better luck tomorrow, I suppose?

Nonetheless, some other Devils not named Brodeur had a few good games. The fourth line looked good, as Pelley and Pikkarainen combined for 9 hits and McAmmond picked up an assist on Salvador's goal. Patrik Elias had a solid night with 2 shots, an assist, and a fantastic night at the dot in going 7 for 8. Andy Greene and Salvador were both monsters on the penalty kill, with Greene killing 5:02 and Salvador killing 4:57; they were mostly steady on even strength to boot outside of the second period. Despite taking 3 minors tonight, Langenbrunner was instrumental not only on the power play goal but in setting up a screen for Rolston's slap shot. And speaking of, don't look now, but Brian Rolston now has a 4 game point streak as he scored a goal with his trademark blistering shot. He very well could be earning his money and that is a very good thing.

Yet, I'm sure you're left with all of these ramblings about tonight's game with one question: Can the Devils keep succeeding without playing a consistently good performance all game long? I'd love to say no, but this month has proven this mostly wrong. Maybe I'm demanding too much and the Devils only need to do just a bit better than the opposition to succeed? I'm not sure. I really hope the Devils can play better throughout each period to not only win some non-ugly (or inconsistent-effort) games so we don't have to find out the hard way.

The Devils conclude a 5 game homestand with a 4-1 record and now go on the road for their next 3 games. Tomorrow the Devils will play Atlanta. Maybe a change in scenery will have the Devils give a better overall effort. After all, their most complete game this month was in Buffalo. Here's hoping they'll do that.

Again, congratulations to Martin Brodeur for now being the all time leader in games played. Thanks to Steve for putting up the GameThread and thanks to the commenters and readers in said thread and for this recap. Again, check out Silver Seven for their side of tonight's game. Please share your thoughts and feelings about tonight's game in the comments.

Senators can't convert in 4-2 loss to Devils

PeterR — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:38:23 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

6 days ago: Ottawa Senators goaltender Brian Elliott, left, and Filip Kuba, center, of the Czech Republic, react after a goal by New Jersey Devils' Bryce Salvadore (not shown) as Devils' Niclas Bergfors, right, of Sweden, circles around the net during the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, in Newark, N.J. Elliott deflected the puck into the air and it went into the net off his back. The Devils defeated the Senators 4-2. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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The Ottawa Senators can't complain about their secondary scorers after a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils, but they've got to be wondering what it will take for the big guns to get their points consistently. Mike Fisher's getting his points well enough, but solid play isn't translating into goals for the newly-assembled line of Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek, and Jesse Winchester. Until those guys--particularly the first two--get their points regularly, the Senators are going to have a hard time winning more than they lose. Tonight, Alex Picard and Jarkko Ruutu scored goals to carry their share of the load, but Martin Brodeur and the Devils' defence kept any other Senators from earning Ottawa any points in the standings.

Sens heroes: Erik Karlsson, Jonathan Cheechoo
Without a doubt, Karlsson had his strongest game as an NHLer tonight, and Bryan Murray must feel a little vindicated for putting his faith in Karlsson as a full-time, big-time pro. Although he was culpable of some weak front-of-the-net coverage on the game-winning goal, he looked assertive, poised, calm, and more than capable for the most part tonight. He had his best scoring chance of the season when he stole the puck and generated himself a breakaway, showing that despite the fact that he couldn't get a shot, he'll be a heck of an asset when playing four-on-four. He's improving every game, and looking very much the powerplay quarterback he came into the season expected to be.

It's also reassuring to see that Cheechoo has maintained the strong game he found while the Senators were on their western road swing. He will likely be of minimal use on the powerplay unless he's with some mega-stars, but he's playing well as a third-liner, with an assist tonight. It's not the role Cheechoo played while he was putting up trophy-winning numbers with San Jose, but his work ethic has helped him get into it.

Sens killers: Martin Brodeur, Jamie Langenbrunner
Brodeur is always a Sens killer, and it was no different tonight. He stopped 27 of 29 shots, only really being beaten by Jarkko Ruutu (Alex Picard's goal was an absolute fluke), and I can hardly imagine how much his defencemen love playing in front of a goalie who controls his rebounds so well.

Langenbrunner, too, seems to have a certain something when he plays against the Senators, with 25P (13G, 12A) in 32 career GP against the Senators (Friday night included)--far better per-game numbers than his career pace would lead you to expect.

Sens zeros: Filip Kuba
In watching Kuba for a year and a half, you see something: Some games, he's the monster who scores four points, but other games, he's the monstrosity who can't keep his check to save his life, and gets lit up as a result. Credit where credit is due, Kuba had two shots (both on the powerplay) tonight, and was credited with two hits, but he was awful defensively. He blew his check on Jay Pandolfo's goal, finished -3 on the night, and just looked weak, tired, and uninspired. It's unfortunate that an otherwise strong game by his defensive partner, Erik Karlsson, was tarnished by a similar -3 count because of weak play by Kuba.

Credit goes to: Alex Kovalev, Milan Michalek
For the second game in a row, Kovalev looked like he was working hard and generating chances tonight. He had good puck possession (what else is new), but unlike some other games, he seemed willing to charge off the boards instead of just stickhandling along the dasher boards. The only thing that kept him out of the Heroes category, in the end, was likely the fact that Ottawa was again 0-for-6 on the powerplay. One of Kovalev's chief responsibilities is to make the PP lethal, and--whether because he doesn't know his teammates well enough, hasn't been given enough freedom or control, or some other reason--he hasn't done that yet.

Michalek had another strong game, but he's got to get on the scoresheet one of these days. Five shots on net in 18:39 and a couple of hits, to boot, but his cold streak has to be nearing absolute zero. He'll have to start pushing the mercury back up soon if Ottawa's going to keep pace with the conference leaders.

Defensive stalwarts: Matt Carkner and Alex Picard
Somehow, these two were +2 on the night, and each had a point (an assist for Carkner, a goal for Picard) with 18:19 and 15:21 TOI, respectively. I don't know what it is about the Picarkner Effect, but it's working in favour of both of these guys. They've had one bad game (and it was abysmal), but for the most part they've just been solid contributors for the team.

Unfortunate reality: Missed scoring chances
Whether it be Jonathan Cheechoo sliding the puck just past the front of the net, Mike Fisher taking a second too long with an open net, or Milan Michalek fumbling the puck with Martin Brodeur miles out of his net, the Senators had some very good chances to score that just didn't finish up. Ottawa outshot the Devils 29-22, and probably had a similar advantage in bona fide scoring chances, but the Senators couldn't finish while New Jersey took advantage of each chance they got.

How does he do it: Alex Picard
I don't know how, but Picard just keeps getting his points. For the second night in a row, he throw an innocent-looking shot at the net, and it finds its way in. One thing it shows to his defensive partners: Shooting is never a bad idea, if you can hit the net. When Picard came over in the Andrej Meszaros trade, I remember hearing good things about his slapshot from the point, but it's his wrist shot that's reaped the rewards. It reminds me of Wade Redden's ability, when he was on his game (and not a $6.5M healthy scratch), to wrist shots on the net and make them count. With the goal, Picard's got 14P (4G, 10A) in 29GP on the year.

Look forward to: Not Martin
It's been reported that Mike Brodeur might finally get to see some NHL action tomorrow night against the Minnesota Wild, and tonight Brian Elliott didn't do anything in particular to make it seem like a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, Elliott wasn't bad (the Devils' fourth goal wasn't bad, it was mostly unlucky), but he wasn't amazing. He was just good. So I wouldn't be surprised if Not Martin finally gets his shot.

Worst stat of the night: 0-for-6 on the powerplay
Just plan terrible. But the Senators can't say they didn't have their chances, and the Devils' effective penalty kill units--led, of course, by Martin Brodeur--took away most chances Ottawa had. The Senators had nine powerplay shots, including a number of good chances and drives from the point, but couldn't make any of them count.

Second-worst stat of the night: Chris Kelly 1-for-7 in faceoffs
Not much to say about it, except that it's amazing Kelly's line, along with Jonathan Cheechoo and Jarkko Ruutu, got as many chances as they had tonight given that their centreman hardly ever got them the puck. Kelly made a great pass for Ruutu's goal, but he's got to work on his faceoffs. Fourteen percent for a defensive specialist is just not good enough.

Game highlights:

Inconsistent Pattern of Punishment Frustrating to NHL Players and Fans

Brandon Bibb — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:00:21 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

David Koci and Jarkko Ruutu were able to do this week what James Neal could not. Escape the Wheel of Justice. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Last month, James Neal became the first Dallas Stars player to fall victim to the NHL's campaign to eliminate headshots from the game, even though the league saw a few worse hits to make better examples from, but decided to take a pass.

This week, the league had two more chances to make examples out of players the same way Neal was made an example of. To nobody's surprise but to the frustration of many, they decided to pass.

It motivated my good friend, Joe Yerdon, to do a little further investigation over his excellent hockey blog, Gross Misconduct Hockey. I do suggest you check him out on a daily basis, even though he's a Red Wings fan.

Videos of the hits in question come after the jump.

First, let's look at David Koci's hit on Mike Green of the Washington Capitals.

5-0 game. Koci doesn't slow down one bit, and looks like he knows exactly what he's doing as he delivers a debilitating and illegal hit on an unsuspecting opponent.

If ever there was a clear cut case for a suspension, this is it. I mean, afterall, James Neal got two games for hitting Derek Dorsett from behind.

Not to mention, Koci has more of a checkered past, which is something the NHL takes into account EVERY TIME they review a hit.

Did Koci get suspended?

Well, we'll get to that here in a bit.

Because I have another video I want to show you. Specifically, because this hit looks a lot more like the Neal hit on Dorsett. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Jarkko Ruutu of the Ottawa Senators, hitting Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta.

Like Neal's hit on Dorsett, it wasn't really a dirty hit so much as it was a reckless hit on, once again, an unsuspecting player who had no way to defend himself. And the seamless glass in Ottawa probably played as much of a role in the injury to Kaleta as the hit, itself, did. It was, as Brad said about the Neal hit on Dorsett, a 'normal looking hockey play.'

Still, while the NHL never came out and gave a reason behind the suspension of James Neal, it was clear that the league was sending a message that headshots would not be tolerated.

Well, I guess this being a different month, that level of tolerance must have been lowered.

A pair of National Hockey League disciplinary hearings has resulted in fines, but not suspensions.

David Koci of the Colorado Avalanche has been fined for his hit on Washington Capitals defenceman Mike Green, while Ottawa Senators winger Jarkko Ruutu has been fined for his hit on Buffalo Sabres' Patrick Kaleta.

Koci, who averages 3 minutes 7 seconds of ice time per game, lined up Green and delivered a shoulder in between the neck and shoulder blade area of Green's jersey. Green did not see Koci coming and his visor smashed into the seamless glass at Pepsi Center.

Green, who had to be helped off the ice, was knocked woozy and left bleeding above his left eye.

Koci was assessed five minutes for boarding, five minutes for fighting after being engaged by Green's teammate John Erskine, and a game misconduct.

Ruutu received a game misconduct for boarding Kaleta in the opening minute of the second period of Wednesday's contest. Ruutu drove Kaleta's head into the glass and the Sabres pest needed to be helped off the ice.

For comparison sake, let me repost the video of Neal's hit on Dorsett.

Keep in mind as we go back in our DBD Time Machine that Neal's hit came after the league dropped the ball on Mike Richards' hit on David Booth and Rob Scuderi's rather ill-timed hip check that caused Jason Chimera to go awkwardly into the boards. I couldn't help but think that when Neal's suspension was handed down, it was handed down to quiet the league's critics, including Bob McKenzie, Peter Laviolette, and Mike Keenan, who hopped on their soapbox and castigated Neal's hit.

Laviolette and Keenan weren't on TSN's panel last night with Bob McKenzie. But Keith Jones and Craig MacTavish were alongside the veteran TSN journalist. And to their credit, they all said Koci and Ruutu deserved suspensions for almost the same reasons as to why TSN's panel said Neal deserved a suspension. In Koci's case, Jonesy even suggested that two games weren't enough and that he ought to have been hauled to New York for a face to face meeting with at least a 5 game suspension.

So good on them for showing some consistency.

And also laying the foundation for the next suspension to come down from the NHL. Because if we've learned anything this year, the league will seek to atone for their screwups by suspending the next poor sap who lays a headshot on an unsuspecting player.

And this vicious and frustrating cycle will continue until, as Hockey Joe puts it...

The league can’t make everyone happy here but coming up with some sort of concrete method to the madness regarding dirty play and suspensions for committing offenses like these has to come out of all this. There have been too many instances where we the fans and I’m sure the players as well are left scratching our collective heads wondering what is going through the head of Colin Campbell when he goes to his smoky back room to come up with some kind of action against offending players. Every other major sports league has some kind of step-ladder for doling out punishment for breaking the rules like this yet somehow the NHL can’t remove its head from its own ass to create their own.

Since Joe touched on the angle of what other sports leagues do, have you ever noticed how in the NFL, they don't ever fine or suspend a player based on the actions of a particular hit? They literally punish the act itself, irregardless if it results in an injury or not.

Classic examples include hits where a defended leads with the crown of his helmet. Or my favorite, the series of horse collar tackles that Roy Williams got fined for in 2007 before he horse collared Donovan McNabb of the Eagles in Week 15 and was suspended the following week at Carolina.

Sure, they also fine players for stupid crap. Pick any one of the many fines they've handed down to Chad Ochocinco this season. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if they fine him for wearing the jersey of the late Chris Henry to practice.

But I digress.

Point is, you hardly ever hear complaining about a lack of consistency in the NFL's pattern of punishment. That's because they have a level of transparency unlike any other league. Look no further than the fact they make their Director of Officiating available every week on the NFL Network to explain away controversial calls from the prior week's games.

Until the NHL adopts a similar level of transparency, this frustration from fans, players, coaches, and team officials will continue to occur.

Friday links: T.J. Oshie superstar edition

averagejoe — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

Friday!

Blue news

Blues vs. Tampa tonight. Can St. Louis beat the Lightning? Let's hope so. [CBS Sports]
I hate question mark headlines, but this one does raise a point. When do the struggling vets get the Matt Walker tour of arena press boxes? [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
T.J. Oshie claims he doesn't think he's a star. Good, because he isn't. A star has more than 20 career goals. [Belleville News-Democrat]
One thing learned in this Jeremy Rutherford chat: he expects a trade before Murray gets the boot. [STLtoday]

Hockey news

Last night's results. [Yahoo! Sports]
Blues and five others are playing tonight. [Yahoo! Sports]
Canada is unhappy about not getting a Winter Classic yet. At least this guy is. [Toronto Sun]
A look at the 10-worst deals of the aughts. Shockingly, no Chris Pronger for Eric Brewer, Doug Lynch and Jeff Woywitka. [Puck Daddy]
Henrik Zetterberg suffered an upper-body injury last night. [ESPN]
Luke Schenn (sophomore slump) and Jonas Gustavsson (heart) are expected back for the Leafs on Friday. [TSN]

David Kock and Jarkko Ruutu received fines. [TSN]

Other links

This is extremely complicated, but cool nonetheless: The beerodic table. [Pic]
More year-end countdown stuff: The top 15 local news stories of the year. [Buzzfeed]
I've never written on a stall wall, but I've often thought about it. As a lefty, I'm usually pretty close to the wall and as a journo, I always have a pen in my pocket. Anyway, these people aren't like me and write on walls. [OMG Staff Wall]
I don't have many rules, but if you submit to this Web site, we can't be friends. [Rate My Pecs]

Video

Look, the video well has dried up. After doing this for like 10ish months, I'm about tapped out. So today, you're getting Muppets.

Lisa Simpson: Dad, what's a Muppet?

Homer Simpson: Well, it's not quite a mop, and it's not quite a puppet, but maaaan! (laughs) So to answer your question, I don't know.

Poor College Student has the weekend shift. I'll be in Kansas City helping a friend move. Go BLUES!

Silver Nuggets: Foligno out two weeks, Ruutu not suspended

DarrenM — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:53:40 -0000

Here are some Ottawa Senators stories for your reading pleasure:

Nick Foligno will have scope surgery on his knee tomorrow morning, and will miss about two weeks. He apparently was injured in the game against Toronto, though I don't know when it happened. (Sens Twitter)
Jarkko Ruutu has avoided suspension, and just received a fine for his hit to the head on Patrick Kaleta last night. (Score)
Bryan Murray says that despite the Spezza injury, he's not expecting to make a move due to salary cap restrictions. Says the only way he could make a move is if the other team was willing to take some salary, which is a euphemism for "Kovalev or Cheechoo." (Slam)
Our friends in the Sens blogosphere have some recaps for you on last night's win: (Another Ottawa Senators Blog) (Black Aces) (Sens Chirp)
Fanhouse looks at how the Jason Spezza injury will impact the Senators. Summary: a lot. (Fanhouse)
Cyril Leeder announces some new deals to try and put fans into the seats at Scotiabank Place. Most deal with season ticketholders, though, and not the single seat tickets that most of us rely on. (Citizen)
The coach of the Denver University Pioneers expresses a bit of frustration about Team Canada's decision to bring Patrick Wiercioch to camp only to send him away before tryouts due to injury. (Denver Post)

Senators shut down Sabres in 2-0 victory

PeterR — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:25:37 -0000

More photos » by Fred Chartrand - AP

Judging by the expression I can read from Jonathan Cheechoo's eye, he's thinking, "How did that go in?" while Alex Picard is saying, "Yeah! I totally planned it that way!" Ryan Miller is thinking the same thing as Cheechoo.

Browse more photos »

The Ottawa Senators' 2-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres may look like it was a boring game if you're just peering at the scoresheet, but anyone watching the game would certainly disagree with that. There were big hits--and controversial ones--and plenty of scoring chances, with the vast majority of them stymied by either Brian Elliott or Ryan Miller, probably the first and second stars, respectively, for most people who watched the game. It was certainly one of Ottawa's most impressive start-to-finish efforts of the season, and it paid off on the scoresheet--all it took was a significant injury to the team's top centre for the Senators to find their rallying cry.

Sens heroes: Brian Elliott, Peter Regin
Elliott the pendulum was back on the favourable side tonight, and was outstanding for the most part. His glove was right on, his rebound control was strong, his reaction time was light-speed, and his luck was there when those assets failed him. He may have only faced 22 shots, but he stopped them all, and you can't ask for much more from your goaltender.

I'm going to give Regin some love here, too, in part because I've been hard on him recently, and also in part because he looked like the force he'd been earlier in the season. He had one assist on the night, and could very well have had two goals against most other goalies in the league. He finished with a game-high five shots (tied with Tim Connolly) in 13:21 TOI, and it`s a pretty good bet he'll play a few more games as a winger rather than a centremen in the near future.

Sens killers: Ryan Miller
People have been saying Miller's been the best goaltender in the league so far, and I didn't realize just how good he was playing until I saw him tonight. He may have only made 26 saves on 28 shots, but there were plenty of good chances in Ottawa--especially early in the game, and Miller gave the Sabres every chance to take the lead and win the game.

Sens zeros: Jarkko Ruutu
I'll let Mark take care of this one, because he obviously feels strongly about it.

Mark's take: Ruutu has to play smarter. There's no other way to say it. On his own, he accounted for nine of Ottawa's thirteen penalty minutes on the night. Think about that. Almost seventy percent of Ottawa's penalty kill time tonight was Ruutu's fault. One a night where the team was so depleted that a defenseman was playing as a forward, that kind of sloppy play is flat out unacceptable. We have repeatedly seen this team outwork more skilled opponents and then give away hard-earned leads with untimely, sloppy penalties. Thanks to Ruutu, Buffalo had a great opportunity to continue that trend tonight. That they weren't able to (with a big assist from Connolly in the middle of Ruutu's major) is a testament to the effort of his teammates. He should be made juice boy for the month with the way he forced everyone else to bail him out.

Ruutu can be a good player, and I realize his game is playing on the edge, but he has to play intelligently, and that means being aware of his reputation. Just like we've seen Carkner reign in the fists as he becomes more integral to the team, Ruutu must also be aware of when to push the envelope and when not to -- and a one-goal game against the division leaders is not the time to.

The bottom line: This depleted roster cannot afford to take stupid penalties at any point. Ruutu took three tonight. I hope Cory Clouston tells him to shape up.

Plenty of credit to: Chris Campoli, Jesse Winchester
I'm not sure whether or not Campoli was excited at the prospect of playing as a forward, or just at the prospect of playing at all, but he sure made the best of his chance. He finished with 7:26 in ice time, more than many expected, and he looked like he was excited at the chance to punish opposing defenders as unforgivingly as he's often been punished when backchecking himself; he was tied for the team-lead with three hits on the night. No shots credited, but he created an amazing scoring chance for Ryan Shannon in the second.

As for Winchester, it was a strong statement that--although he's no replacement for Jason Spezza--he's not going to look too out of place in an increased role, especially if he's with any of Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, or Milan Michalek. His faceoff dominance continued tonight (he won 11 of 17 faceoffs), so now we know it wasn't just because he was against weaker opponents--a lot of his wins tonight came against Derek Roy. Winch won third star from NHL.com, despite registering no points and no shots in his 18:55 TOI; that ought to say something about how effective he was at what he was asked to do.

Not a bad start: Josh Hennessy
Hennessy only had 6:47 TOI, but he was strong--especially in the first period, in between Campoli and Shannon. I'm actually a little surprised Cory Clouston didn't give Hennessy and Shannon more of a chance to get something going, considering how strong they were for him in Binghamton, but the guy's got his game plan, and he's sticking to it. In his limited ice time, Hennessy had a shot on net and two hits.

First big hit: Erik Karlsson
Karlsson took what, if memory serves, was his first big NHL hit when he was plastered by Tim Kennedy in the first period. It looked like he was labouring at first, but Special K bounced back and finished off with a pretty solid game. Not as impressive, in my opinion, as the last two games, but he's really appearing to be more confident now--especially in asserting himself in front of the net.

Unnoticed greatness: Ottawa's defensive support
I'll once again refer to the CBSSports.com shot chart to demonstrate a pretty telling trend for the Ottawa Senators; this time, look at where the Sabres took most of their shots from on the night:

Compare Buffalo's shots to Ottawa's, and you'll notice the defensive support Ottawa offered Elliott, and the lack of defensive support the Sabres offered Miller. There's but one shot within the Senators crease, and five or six in the immediate area of Buffalo's. It's especially impressive on the left side of the Senators' end, covered mostly by Matt Carkner, Filip Kuba, and Chris Phillips--Ottawa's strongest positional defencemen on most nights.

Sens outclassed by Kings, lose 6-3

DarrenM — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:31:33 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Browse more photos »

Sens heroes: Mike Fisher, Jonathan Cheechoo
Fisher played like the Mike Fisher we saw earlier in the season, good for two goals and six shots on the night. Jonathan Cheechoo had his best game in a Senators sweater, putting up a goal and six shots, but also drawing two or three penalties through good old fashioned hard work. Cheechoo and his linemates, Chris Kelly and Jarkko Ruutu, were the only Sens players to finish on the positive side of the plus-minus statistic, each at +1.

Sens zeroes: Filip Kuba, Brian Elliott
Kuba simply played soft tonight, not punishing players physically and letting the puck bobble off his stick too frequently. Elliott made some nice stops, but he also let in far too many goals that he could've stopped.

Sens killers: Drew Doughty, Justin Williams
Not to sound like Pierre McGuire or anything, but Doughty played extremely well tonight. Not only was he strong in his own end, but he also put up a rocket of a shot for a powerplay goal. Justin Williams had two goals and an assist on the night.

Telling stat: faceoffs 32-19 Los Angeles
This is starting to be a trend. The Sens have been terrible in the faceoff circle as of late, and tonight was simply awful. Not only did the Senators frequently lose draws, but they lost them at important times when they needed to get goals. Chris Kelly did well with 58% while Jesse Winchester did spectacularly at 86%, but Fisher and Spezza need to pick it up.

Did anyone notice: Ryan Keller
Keller has now played four games. I am not sure I've noticed him in any of them, and as a forward, that's not a good thing. I have a feeling he'll be sitting while Foligno returns.

Injury alert: Alex Picard
In the first period, Picard took a clean, hard hit from Dustin Brown on the boards. He went off the ice labouring his arm/shoulder, and did not return. I expect Chris Campoli will be playing against Phoenix with Picard taking some time off.

Penalty woes: The final minutes of the first period; Phillips' dive
In the final three minutes before the first period ended, the Senators had given up a penalty shot (which Wayne Simmonds scored on) and taken three additional minor penalties, including a bizarre one where Anton Volchenkov grabbed the puck out of the air, held on for a few seconds, and then threw it with all of his might. The Senators somehow killed off the 5-on-3s, but their penalty problems didn't stop there. The Sens nearly had a powerplay in the dying minutes while only a goal down as Scott Parse held Chris Phillips' stick, but Phillips ended up getting called on a dive, so the teams played four on four instead.