Leading 1-0 a little less than halfway through the second period, the game--and the series--was Ottawa's to lose. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.

On a power play created by some good work from Erik Condra, the Senators' play, which had been lackadaisical once they had the lead, became downright sloppy. With the Rangers' penalty killers completely gassed, the power play--which had already struck gold once--was in great position to really put the nail in the coffin. All they had to do was gain possession. Instead, Milan Michalek took a bad angle towards Marc Staal, and compounded the bad decision by trying to reach around the Rangers defenseman to get to the puck. That's holding, Milan.

Some 4-on-4 happened, and the Sens didn't do anything with it. On the ensuing power play, Brad Richards was able to find Derek Stepan on the doorstep. Though Anderson was able to get over in time, Stepan was able to bat the puck up and over Anderson's arm.

The Rangers took the play to the Senators after that, and got the benefit of a hooking call on Filip Kuba late in the period. Kuba has been an important penalty killer for the Senators, so it was an important loss, and it was about to be magnified.

Not long after--16 seconds to be exact--Nick Foligno was assessed a goaltender interference penalty despite being checked into thinly-veiled Sens Killer Henrik Lundqvist. Now, this play was not goaltender interference by the strictest interpretation of the rule. Foligno doesn't have much of an opportunity to get out of Lundqvist's way when he's being hit from behind. But Nick Foligno's play this year isn't going to get him the benefit of the doubt from any official. If you're wondering why, watch this, this, this, or this.Guys who play on the edge don't get to complain when that edge is played against them. That's the price to pay for getting to dance on that line.

Anyway, the Kuba and Foligno penalties led to an extended 5-on-3 power play, and the Rangers were able to work the puck to a wide-open Richards. Like a pack of wolves, they slowly drew closer to Craig Anderson with every blocked shot. You could see the Senators' triangle shrinking and shrinking until the scoring chance materialized. Craig Anderson was in position to make the save, but Richards was able to take three full strides (that's charging, except the puck isn't a player so it can't be called) and absolutely rifle the puck. Can't blame the goalie for a 5-on-3 goal. Any goalie able to stop a shot like that is merely lucky, not good. Or has mongoose genes spliced into them. I don't know.

A stunned and frustrated Sens team then proceeded to make a bad neutral zone turnover. Jason Spezza did not get the puck deep, and Marc Staal was able to feed Stepan, who had the freedom to barge deep into the Senators' zone. Spezza's indecision on whether to change or get back and defend allowed Chris Krieder to walk in undefended. Stepan found him, and Kreider found the open net.

And that was the game. Three goals in the second period for the Rangers gave them a lead that they would be able to protect. The Senators would have their chances in the third, and added a late, controversial Jason Spezza goal, but a comeback is a difficult proposition when New York is willing to put five bodies in the way of a shot if that's what it takes.

Despite the missed opportunity, the Senators have one more chance to close out the series. They've proven they can beat New York already. Their last chance will come in game seven on Thursday.

(read on for heroes and zeroes...)

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Today's good omen: Let's write the ultimate pump up speech

Let's not kid ourselves that there is no potential danger in this--in writing off the Rangers before the game has been played.

But they used to say if man could fly, he'd have wings. Except... he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn't reached the moon, or that we hadn't explored beyond the edges of our maps? That's like saying that you wished that you still operated without anesthetics and sewed your patients up with catgut like your ancestors used to. We are right to acknowledge the enormous dangerous potential in assuming we're simply going to win this game. But I must point out that the possibilities, the potential for success is equally great. There's risk in every opportunity. Risk ... risk is our business. That's what this game is all about. That's why we watch.

Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that's what the Ottawa Senators have here tonight. That's what they've earned here, tonight. One game. If they played the Rangers ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, Ottawa skates with 'em. Tonight, Ottawa stays with 'em, and shuts them down because they can! Tonight, Ottawa is the greatest hockey team in the world. The Senators were meant to be here tonight. This is their time. New York's time? It's done. It's over. I'm sick and tired of hearing about what a great hockey team the Rangers have. Fuck 'em! This is Ottawa's time!

I don’t know what to else say, really. There's two choices: They can get the shit kicked out of them, or they can fight their way into the second round. Now, we can’t do it for them. We're just fans. Look at the team. You'll see these young faces, and think -- I mean -- what's there to say? What are your expectations?

You know, when you get old in life things get taken from you. I mean, that's...part of life. But you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches. So is hockey. Because in either game, life or hockey, the margin for error is so small -- I mean one-half a stride too late or too early, and you don’t quite make it. One-half second too slow, too fast, you don’t quite hit it.

The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, they fight for that inch. On this team, they tear themselves and everyone else around them to pieces for that inch. They claw with their fingernails for that inch, because they know when they add up all those inches that’s gonna make the fuckin' difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying!

I’ll tell you this: In any fight, it’s the guy who’s willing to die who’s gonna win that inch. And I know if this team is gonna have any life tonight, it’s because they were willing to fight and die for that inch. Because that’s what living is! The six inches in front of your face!

Now, we can’t make them do it. They have to look at the guy next to them. Look into his eyes! Now, I think they'll see a guy who will go that inch with them. They're gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for his team because he knows, when it comes down to it, they're gonna do the same for him! That’s a team. That’s hockey, guys. That's all it is. And, either we cheer the shit out of this team and give them every ounce of energy we have as fans tonight, no matter the score, or we sit on our hands finding reasons to blame guys when they're fighting for inches out there. Now, what are you gonna do?

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

When we last left our heroes, they were tied 1-1 with the Eastern Conference champions--a position they had to be thrilled with when considering where everyone thought they might wind up before the season started. Since then, things are looking up. The Senators are now up 3-2 in the series, and it is not a fluke. The team is strongly committed to playing for each other, and the results are speaking for themselves.

Biggest gains: Craig Anderson
Since game one, Anderson has saved 121 of 126 shots, including a game five shutout in New York, for a save percentage of 96%. You want a reason the Senators are leading the series? There it is.

Biggest losses: Jesse Winchester
Just a hugely disappointing way for the kid to go out. Winchester had been an integral part of the team's penalty-killing and faceoff success, and it was great to see him playing so well after missing most of the season with a concussion. Now he's out with a concussion again. Considering how severe his last one was, don't expect him back anytime soon.

(read on for the full rundown...)

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Today's good omen: The following story is 100% true

I had a pretty fun childhood. I've fallen out of trees, jumped out of cars, skied through forests, jumped off of roofs (into snowbanks, don't worry), almost burned down a school (twice), detonated several hundred dollars' worth of various explosives, knocked out at least two other people, was ranked the top Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold player in the world on Case's Ladder, hacked and rebuilt a whole bunch of electronics to my parents' dismay, and wrecked more than one car--all without ever breaking a bone. I've also been almost kidnapped twice.

The first time I don't generally talk about. I was young and it was extremely scary. The only thing that saved me was one of those PSAs from the end of G.I. Joe cartoons--telling you how to get away from someone if they're in a car and you're on a bike.

The second time, I was older, but still young enough to be stupid. My friends and I had discovered a "hidden" fort in the forest behind our neighborhood. We knew whose fort it was--older kids who played football with us sometimes had built it out of stolen plywood in between some trees. It was slightly hard to find, unless you knew where to look. I remember being in there the first time we discovered it--I was terrified and wanted to leave, because I was convinced we were going to die. This may have had something to do with the fact that the fort was covered in warnings that said, "We know you're here and we're going to kill you."

Once I realized they did not, in fact, know we were there, the fort had other interests, since it was where the older kids hid their Playboys, a huge stash of junk food, and weed. The drugs had no interest for me (Thanks, G.I. Joe) but the other two were a gold mine.

I was engrossed in an article (that's right) excerpting Jose Torres' Fire & Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson when I heard a sound behind me. I was sure I was busted, but my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach when I recognized my fellow occupant's orange jumpsuit and unshaven face. I was a kid. He was an escaped convict. between me and the door. I was dead meat.

But he didn't kill me right away, to my surprise. He just asked me if this was my fort. I told him no, it wasn't. As we shared a bag of Cheetos, he told me he'd need me to come along with him because he had a device on his ankle and he'd need a hostage. I told him that I would help him if he'd promise to let me go. He told me he'd come kill me and my family in the night if I was lying to him.

A cursory inspection of the device told me if I cut it, the circuit would be interrupted. I had taken apart enough VCRs and alarm clocks to know what I needed to do. I quickly returned with some heavy-duty tin snips and some copper wire. A little magic and we had the device off with no problems. He thanked me and disappeared into the night.

I never saw him again. I don't know who he was, what his crime was, or whether or not he'd really have been able to come find me and kill me in the night. I do know that ever since then, I've gotten packages at random intervals. Usually they are just small trinkets of things that are useful in my life: course textbooks, gift cards, etc. Yesterday, this arrived on my doorstep:

I think you know what was inside. It was accompanied by a note: "Hope this lives up to your other stories."

I'm lucky to be alive. We all are... remember that. It's easy to forget sometimes.

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Today's good omen: The following story is 100% true

I live on the banks of the Chattahoochee River (ha, the South has funny names... get over it, jerk), which is pretty awesome however you try to slice it. As I was on my morning run today (in a thunderstorm because I watch too many Rocky movies), I caught a glimpse of something floating in the water out of the corner of my eye.

It was a covered basket. I've heard some pretty crazy stories about Georgia, so I wondered what was inside it. Unfortunately, the cover obscured my view, and the basket was facing out away from me. There was no way to tell its contents. It was caught on some rocks, so I did the thing any guy would do: I looked for a stick to poke it with.

Sticks are easy to come by in the forest, so this was not something that took me long. But try as I might, I couldn't reach the basket to poke it free. The banks of the river were muddy due to the storm and I couldn't risk getting closer without falling in. I had to find some other way. Looking around, I noticed a tree branch hanging over me. There was only one thing I could do, because I was gonna poke that basket free no matter what.

Jumping up, I grabbed the branch in my left hand while I extended the stick further. It was just enough to make contact with the basket, but not to dislodge it. I worked my way down the branch until it was bending at an untenable angle, and my shoes were covered in mud trying to hold my body on solid ground. I was almost horizontal above the fast-moving river, swollen with rain. I gave the basket a good poke. It jostled, but did not break free. I gave it another vigorous shove, and it was almost loose.

And that's when I heard it. A sound like a stalk of celery being broken off. A quick glance behind me told me that my energetic poking of the basket had put more weight on the branch than it could hold. It would only support me for a few seconds longer. I had to make a choice: free the basket and eat a face full of rocks, or turn back.

There was really no choice at all.

I turned back, because running in wet socks is squishy and unpleasant. Leveraging all my weight against the rapidly weakening branch, I was barely able to scramble up the banks before it broke off, crushing the basket against the rocks. I could only watch as the basket slowly flooded and sank into the depths of the Chattahoochee. From the wreckage bubbled up some debris, including some wicker and a fortune cookie, perfectly preserved in its plastic.

The cookie floated lazily to a bank on a curve, where I was able to retrieve it with no further incidents.

If that's not worth dry socks, I don't know what is.

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Today's good omen: The following story is 100% true

The bowels of ScotiaBank Place are not unlike the Control Center level of Doom, but with less toxic waste and slightly fewer demons trying to kill you. It was thus that I found myself wishing I had a shotgun as I realized I was impossibly lost.

The plan had been simple: Peter would head to the Team Chara locker room to see if he could get some good quotes while I would stick around the Team Alfie locker room to see if there was anyone else I wanted to talk to. Then we’d meet up and see if we could get anything from the bigger interviewees outside.

After getting a few funny answers from Henrik Lundqvist and Brian Elliott about their desire to stop a Zdeno Chara shot after watching him break the hardest shot record, I headed out to see if I could find Peter.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a well-dressed man with longish hair and the blonde stubble of a weekend without a razor.

It was Milan Michalek.

Realizing my opportunity for a dream interview had just walked by me, I decided to upgrade our original plan to something that would make me a comedy legend on Silver Seven, and quickly headed after Michalek, hoping to stop him.

But Michalek knew his way around, and I most certainly did not. After a few minutes of not being able to find him, I figured I would double back and try to catch some other player heading out and follow them—presumably to where Michalek had gone. Several tense minutes later, I was making a pact with myself not to get lost in the future without some kind of weapon.

The sound of footsteps approaching from around the corner snapped me from my daydream. I was saved! If it was Michalek, I’d still get my interview. If it was some jerk from the staff, I’d just play it cool like Arnold and find my way back to the locker rooms.

And then I saw him.

It was a man in an impeccable grey suit. His dirty blond hair was mussed in a way that only a European would consider stylish, and his skin was so pale that girls from Team Edward would have swooned if they even got a glimpse it. But it was his sunken, red-rimmed eyes that transfixed me.

Those eyes! They burned with a pale orange fire that was inhuman. I could feel my legs weaken and I suddenly felt as if I was held up by an unseen force. I wanted nothing more than to look away and run in fear, but I was compelled to continue staring. The man laughed, and the temperature of my blood dropped several degrees. Then he spoke.

"Is okay to fear," he said. "Not everyone is man. Respect."

He reached out and put an object in my shirt pocket. I was still powerless to move my limbs. I could not have stopped him if I wanted to.

"Take," he told me. "Open when time is right."

I wanted to ask him how I would know, but I was unable to speak. He walked away, and when he was out of earshot, control of my body returned to me. I reached into my pocket to pull out a fortune cookie. A fortune cookie, which, until yesterday, I was physically unable to open. Believe me, my head wanted to--but every time I tried, my hands stopped working.

In desperation, I used my moderator powers to look up an email address. Having no other recourse, I needed to get in touch with him (click the images to expand):

To my surprise, he responded.

It said, "Many apologies, but cannot remember everyone. Can only tell you truth: Is always time if you want bad enough." Well, I wanted it bad. I opened the fortune cookie.

Believe.

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

The Senators took away a road split with the top seed in the Eastern Conference. That's not too bad. Also, some other stuff happened, but you probably didn't hear about it. So, the team heads home with the confidence that they're not going quietly. If they're going to maintain the momentum, they'll need the support of the crowd. Madison Square Garden was loud--will ScotiaBank Place be?

Biggest gains: Zenon Konopka
Konopka has not been well-liked on this blog this season; many felt his poor skating and decisions to fight at inopportune times were not a good fit with the Senators' puck-possession game. But the playoffs are a different beast, where faceoffs matter and sometimes the only way to start a play is to win a battle on the boards, and in game two, Konopka was outstanding in both areas. It's no coincidence that he had the primary assist on Foligno's late game-tying goal. The Senators would be down 2-0 without Konopka's play in game two.

Biggest losses: Jared Cowen
We believed he was rounding into form heading into the playoffs, but he looked jittery in game one, posting a minus-3 in a 4-2 loss. Cowen's megabomb led to the game-winning goal in overtime during game two, but the team doesn't have the luxury of jittery play in the playoffs--they don't have the firepower for anyone to under-perform. Cowen's play improved in game two, but that needs to continue for the Senators to have any chance in the remainder of the series.

(read on for the full rundown...)

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Today's good omen: The following story is 100% true

To say that Canada did not welcome me with open arms during my recent visit for the All-Star Game would be an understatement. Upon arriving at Customs in Toronto, I was immediately grilled with more questions than I have experienced anywhere else, even Texas.

Why was I there? To cover the All-Star Game. (The agent was unimpressed.)
How long was I staying? Just two days.
What was the name of my hotel? I wasn't staying at a hotel.
Where was I staying, then? With one of my friends, a fellow writer from our blog.
What was this "friend's" name? Peter Raaymakers. (Sorry, Peter.)
What's this "friend's" address? I don't know, somewhere in Ottawa.
Was that my final destination? Yes, that's where the All-Star game was.
Was I transporting any weapons or chemicals? No, just me. (MY HANDS AND FEET ARE LETHAL WEAPONS)
What's the duration of my stay? Still two days.
Have a great trip. Thanks, go Sens go.

It was then time to have my bags and all their contents opened and thoroughly inspected, and my hands swept for explosive chemicals. America doesn't want to destroy you, Canada. We just want to watch the game.

Later that night, as Peter and I were waiting for the bus to arrive to take us home, we had a discussion about what to do if I couldn't find my day pass: I would get on at the back, hoping the driver wouldn't check to see if I had one.

I never got the chance. As Peter climbed in the front, I went to get in the back. Two seconds is apparently the limit to get on the bus, a fact I learned as the doors closed in my face.

Soon, a text from Peter: "Did you get on?"

"No," I replied. "So, what now?"

No reply. I was stranded in Ottawa at midnight with no knowledge of the city and no idea when the next bus would come--or if it would take me home.

"What now, indeed?" I muttered to myself.

"Don't worry," came a voice from behind me.

It was a stunningly beautiful woman. Dressed all in white with jet black hair, she had apparently appeared from nowhere. I was so startled that I couldn't speak. She reached her hand out to me.

"Your friend will be right back," she told me. "In the meantime, take this."

It was not a bus pass. It was a fortune cookie, one of two I would collect that weekend.

I glanced away at the sound of Peter's voice. When I looked back, she was gone.

(read on for head-to-head and pump up...)

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Today's good omen: The following story is 100% true
When a woman asks you to tell her you love her, what she really means is that she wants you to show how much you love her. I have learned this the hard way. If you simply tell her, you're just doing what she said, and let's face it: "good enough" is no way to stoke the fires of interest. It's like Simone de Beauvoir wrote:

"The knight departing for new adventures offends his lady, yet she has nothing but contempt for him if he remains at her feet."

As men, we can't win. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. I contemplated this as I drove to her favorite Chinese restaurant--over an hour away--knowing full well that a gesture like leaving the seat down might be more appreciated than simply picking up one of her favorite meals. But it wouldn't be more romantic. So, I had decided to take my chances.

Arriving at the place, which must remain nameless because I don't share secrets, I placed my order and was told the wait would be quite long. When I testily asked why, the cashier simply gave a nod of her head toward a room in the back. Surrounding a table were the Ottawa Senators. Why they were there, I have no explanation for. I attempted to run over to talk with Z. Smith and maybe Alfie, but the owner of the restaurant, a large man with a large cleaver, gave me a subtle shake of his head, and I decided to heed his advice.

The team was just about finished with their meal, and as they filed out, it was clear that they enjoyed the anonymity afforded to them, so I did not let on that I recognized them. Once the last player, Jim O'Brien, was out of the place, I hurried to the room to see if anyone was a bad tipper before the staff cleaned the table. At the head of the table, where Alfie had been sitting, I found this:

As for my gesture? May the Senators enjoy the same level of success tonight.

(read on for head-to-head and pump up...)

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So far, this list has seen many things. We've seen highly-skilled forwards, thumpers on defense, grinders, Francophones, and of course, plenty of obligatory Swedes--and if you've been following the list, you know we have more than a few of those coming up still. But there's been one thing missing on this list up until this point.

BADASSERY.

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His place on this list might be a surprise considering the year he's had, but his pedigree should tell us not to give up on Butler too quickly.

Butler signed a two-year deal with the Senators in March of 2010, after his career at the University of New Hampshire had come to an end. Butler's final year there had gotten him noticed: his 29 goals had him second among all NCAA Division I players. To those goals, he added 24 assists, totaling 53 points in just 39 games. That would be good enough to earn him a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top collegiate player each year, though he would eventually lose out to Blake Geoffrion, grandson of Bernie "Boom Boom" Geffrion--one of the innovators of the slapshot.

That season made him a hot commodity. An Ottawa team desperate for offensive talent was the perfect match--he'd get a chance to make an impact right away. Though the team essentially paid him $450,000 a game in 2009-10 (Butler would only play two games after leaving school), the 2010-11 season is where Butler made a name for himself among Sens fans.

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

They whittled away their cushion. Buffalo and Washington were nipping at their heels. This week: at Winnipeg, at Philadelphia, at New York (Islanders). Win, win, win. Playoffs. Boom.

Biggest gains: Daniel Alfredsson
We should just nickname him "Ghostbuster," because in the immortal words of Dr. Peter Venkman, "Sometimes, shit happens, someone has to deal with it, and who ya gonna call?" On Ottawa, that person is still Alfie. With three goals in two games, including the go-ahead and game-winner in a wild game against Winnipeg and a doom rocket off a feed from Karlsson against Philly, Alfie showed he can still deliver when he needs to.

Biggest losses: Zenon Konopka
Uh, we guess. Hard to pick out someone who struggled this week. We chose Konopka because it doesn't look like he'll play again this season unless there's an injury, not because he had a particularly bad week. There's just other players head coach Paul MacLean would rather use.

(read on for the full rundown...)

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You want to see good teammates?

Here's video of the Ottawa Senators coming off the ice. It's no surprise that Alfie is there to greet them, because he's friggin' Alfie. But watch how pumped Zenon Konopka and Matt Carkner are. The team chemistry in that locker room must be absolutely rock solid. If your scratches are that excited, imagine how the players must feel.

Though he might not win the Jack Adams Award for the best coach this year, what head coach Paul MacLean has crafted with this team is still noteworthy. Just look at the mood of the players as they head towards the locker room: excited but not giddy. They're almost businesslike, as if they know that one goal has been achieved but there are more to go.

This team was chosen by many experts to finish dead last in the NHL, and they've defied those expectations pretty convincingly. When MacLean was introduced, he said, "It's not them versus me, it's the Ottawa Senators versus the rest of the NHL."

Looks like they've bought in.

Let's get this out of the way: with today's win over the New York Islanders, the Senators have clinched a playoff berth. That's it--they're in, three years ahead of schedule. Melnyk must be spazzing like he just chugged a six-pack of Jolt! Cola. Seeding is all that remains to be determined. Celebrate here.

We now resume your regularly scheduled recap.

With Jason Spezza (fatherhood) and Daniel Alfredsson (flu) out of the lineup, it looked like earning a win wasn't going to be easy for the Ottawa Senators. Things weren't made easier by the sparse, energy-draining crowd of Nassau Veterans Library, whose disapproving silence from the first puck drop made it impossible to take them of the game.

With no energy to feed off of, the game began with a choppy start. Things took a turn for the worse when the Islanders scored first, with a John Tavares pass deflecting off of Mark Streit's skate past Craig Anderson. It was Tavares' 47th assist of the season. Tavares would also later hit the crossbar. He is good. But for all Tavares' skill, the Islanders failed to take control of the game after gaining their lead. In fact, they looked very much like a team playing out the string in this game. One wonders how they were able to beat the Penguins in back-to-back games. It certainly couldn't have been with effort like what the Senators faced tonight.

With no serious pressure, the Senators had no reason to panic despite the deficit. They played a calm game, and despite being outshot in the first period at one point by a margin of nine to four, largely due to, shall we say, interesting, penalties on Jared Cowen and thinly-veiled Sens Hero Milan Michalek, the Senators closed out the period tied on the scoreboard and leading in shots 13-9. The goal came via thinly-veiled Sens Hero Kyle Turris. If you'd like a description, skip ahead.

The Islanders had one more chance to make a game of it, and it came in the face of a shorthanded breakaway by Michael Grabner. Without much to shoot at thanks to Anderson, there was no goal, and the power play would convert right afterwards in a beautiful manner, as Sergei Gonchar was able to step into an unbelievable no-look backhand pass from Milan Michalek.

From there, the onslaught was on, as Michalek scored his 35th thanks to a pinballer of his own design. Nick Foligno got in on the fun as he dove for a loose puck sitting just outside of Islanders goalie Al Montoya's skate. Turris capped off the scoring with a power play goal, stealing credit from Chris Neil by trumping Neil's stick with his own at the last possible second. What a jerk.

The Senators came into this game knowing they controlled their own fate. For me, one of the marks of a playoff team is beating the teams you should beat. The Senators took control of their own fate and beat an opponent they should have beaten this afternoon. The end result is one that they clearly deserved, in more ways than one.

(read on for heroes and a rare no zeros/no killers...)

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As of today, the Ottawa Senators are two points away from being out of the playoffs. That's just one game. Forget about tiebreakers. Forget about games in hand. Thanks to an extended losing streak, the team is sitting in a precarious position: they have to win to keep their spot. There's no more cushion. No more table.

The good news is that the Senators control their own destiny. They just have to win--it's as simple as that.

The bad news is that if anything happens to Craig Anderson over the next five games, the chances of that happening take a drastic hit, because with steady option Ben Bishop suffering from a groin injury, their hopes would rest on Alex Auld.

Auld has been terrible this year, and there's no way to defend him. He's gone 2-4-2 with a GAA of 3.35 and save percentage of 88.4%. That's awful. His two wins were by scores of 6-4 and 4-3, respectively. There's no point in rehashing the scores of the losses.

The bottom line is that the team has no confidence in front of Alex Auld, no matter what they might say publicly. They do have confidence in Robin Lehner--we saw that when he became the only Senators goaltender to outduel Tim Thomas this year.

The only logical choice, then, is to scratch Auld and call up Lehner. NHL rules state:

5.1 Eligible Players -[...]Not more than eighteen (18) skaters and two (2) goalkeepers, shall be permitted.[...]

5.3 Goalkeeper - The recalling of minor league goalkeepers (as a result of suspensions incurred to both goalkeepers under Rule 11 – Goalkeeper’s Equipment) to ensure a complete lineup for subsequent games shall be deemed to be an emergency recall and subject to the twenty-three (23) man roster limitations.

The key here is "to ensure a complete lineup." The Senators reportedly have just two uses of their emergency recall privilege left. Is it worth using one on Lehner?

Yes. The team already has enough healthy scratches. Should they lose a forward, Bobby Butler, Zenon Konopka, and Jesse Winchester all stand ready to draw in. There is no need to call up anyone else from Binghamton. Should they lose a defenseman, Matt Gilroy is available. And really, if the loss is Erik Karlsson or Filip Kuba, there's no one available to replace that talent anyway. The remaining defensemen don't bring enough to the table to justify recalling a Mark Borowiecki or Eric Gryba. If the team feels differently, they still have their last recall to use.

But in goal, there's no room for error. Craig Anderson will be playing every minute until the team is guaranteed a spot--of that, there's no doubt. Between Anderson and Auld, there's no debate over who gives the team the best chance to win. Unfortunately for the team, between Auld, Bishop, and Lehner, there's also no debate over who gives the team the worst chance to win.

With five games left in the season, winning is all that matters. How the team accomplishes that isn't as important as making sure that it is accomplished. The team must evaluate its personnel with an eye towards winning. Using that standard, there's just one possible conclusion:

Alex Auld must not play.

(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

Things looked really ugly for the Senators this week. They lost to New Jersey's backup, Johan Hedberg, 1-0, and then were single-handedly destroyed by Erik Cole's first period natural hat trick in Montreal. The team managed just one goal in those two games. The power play again did nothing, the team looked out of synch, and head coach Paul MacLean had resorted to putting Colin Greening on every line just to try to spark anyone. Meanwhile, as the losses piled up, the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Captials were putting together hard charges for the 8th seed. Suddenly the Senators' concerns weren't about winning the division, but about simply making the playoffs.

An 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins helped relieve the sense of panic. It featured goals from a ton of players, including two on the power play, and served as a reminder of what the team is capable of when things are going right. It was also the Penguins' first regulation loss in 15 games. All in all, a quality win, something the team desperately needed to get their confidence back.

Biggest gains: Nick Foligno
No one was very good this week until Foligno joined Turris and Alfredsson on the second line. Then, against Pittsburgh, the trio combined for nine points. That's pretty good. Maybe Foligno wasn't the spark for the team--many players did well against Pittsburgh--but he was the spark for his line, and it was his line that won the game. If they can keep it going, Foligno's impact will wind up invaluable.

Biggest losses: Matt Gilroy
Played his way out of the lineup. There's not much more to say. Gilroy's time with the team has been nothing short of a disaster, and it's hard to imagine him getting significant time down the stretch. The Senators traded Brian Lee to get a look at Gilroy. They got their look, all right.

(Read on for the full rundown...)

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

It wasn't a terrible week for the Senators as a team--they briefly held the division lead, and captured three of a possible six points. But the way in which they did those things was not one that inspires confidence. The power play went 0-for-the week, and allowed a shorthanded goal in the process; the team only managed one win in three games against teams not in playoff contention; the Senators only scored five goals in those three games; they squandered not one, but two long 5-on-3 opportunities. Luckily, there are nine games left to correct things, because this is not the kind of momentum a team wants to approach the playoffs with.

Biggest gains: Ben Bishop
Green arrows are scarce this week, and Bishop was the team's steadiest player, starting all three games. He allowed an own-goal from Karlsson, but gave his team a chance to win every game. He can't be faulted if they didn't get the job done.

Biggest losses: Matt Gilroy
In his nine games here, he's missed more empty nets than Brian Lee has goals this season. His pinches seem oddly timed, he is not overly physical, and he either doesn't have the hockey vision we were led to believe or he doesn't have a good understanding of head coach Paul MacLean's system. Not every trade deadline audition is going to go like Anderson's did last year, but Gilroy hasn't done anything to help the team win this week.

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On a night where they had a chance to take back the division lead, the Ottawa Senators instead turned in what had to be one of their more baffling games of the season.

Truthfully, the less said about this game, the better. There won't be any heroes, and if you're looking for zeros, take your pick. What's most distressing about this game isn't that the Senators lost, but the way they lost. The game was tied at zero after one period, and then Erik Karlsson saw his pass go off of goalie Ben Bishop and into Ottawa's net. The Leafs' Tim Connolly was credited with the goal.

Until that point, the Senators had looked like a calm team despite playing their third game in four nights, with the previous two going to overtime. About six minutes later, things began to unravel for the team, as Nick Foligno fought Luke Schenn, and at the same time, Chris Neil fought Mikhail Grabovski, earning both players game misconduct penalties, and ejections from the game. Those were actually the second and third fights of the game, as Sergei Gonchar got pummeled by Clarke MacArthur in the first, though he came out of the fight--his first since 1998--smiling.

Trading off Neil for Grabovski was the first of many squandered chances for the Senators, as they had a great opportunity to tie the game in the third period while on a 5-on-3 power play. Unfortunately, the best the special teams could muster was a kick-in by Jason Spezza. No room for debate on the motion, and the goal was quickly overturned. This marks Ottawa's fifth straight game without a power play goal. Toronto, meanwhile, was 2 for 2 on their power play, and by the time Colin Greening scored late, it took an insignificant chip away from a 3-0 Leafs lead.

Games like this remind us how far this young team has left to go.

(read on for shot chart and highlights...)

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Remember this? Or this? Maybe this? Perhaps you remember this?

Well, today, the Senators are in a dogfight for the division lead, not for the first overall pick in the 2012 draft. Booyah. Meanwhile, tonight's opponent, picked by just about everyone to finish better than the Senators, sits six points out of a playoff spot. The Maple Leafs have been hammered by injuries, inconsistent goaltending, a lame duck coach and every other excuse you can think of. This is not the same team that shut out the Senators 5-0 on February 4th. In fact, they may be more dangerous. There are many reasons for the Maple Leafs to get up for this game: pride, keeping their fading playoff hopes alive, the opportunity to play spoiler against their rivals... you name it. And it doesn't help that the Senators are coming off back-to-back overtime games against Montreal, with the second game occurring just last night. A tired opponent is the best opponent.

For the Senators, though, the stakes are even higher. If they want to regain their tenuous hold on the division lead, they must keep winning games. You have to believe waking up and looking at the standings this morning served as a wake-up call for Boston, given how they played this afternoon. If the team wants to prove themselves as a legitimate threat in the playoffs, they need to demonstrate they can win when it's not so easy.

Tonight's game won't be easy.

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The Ottawa Senators announced today they had agreed to a two-year entry-level deal with University of Connecticut forward Cole Schneider, who has the saddest profile picture ever. Seriously, someone stole his Double Down.

Schneider went undrafted but made it onto the team's radar after setting some UConn records in his sophomore season. He'll sign an amateur tryout contract and play with Binghamton until they start the playoffs their season ends.

Though not the top college player available, this is a pretty standard move by general manager Bryan Murray. We know that Murray tends to believe that signing a college player is the equivalent of making a second-round draft selection. Ottawa doesn't have one of those this year, thanks to that jerk Kyle Turris, so we should essentially slot Schneider in when evaluating his progress going forward.

Murray has generally had good success with college signings, though the best example is playing in Anaheim (Author's note: Obviously I meant Los Angeles. Maybe YOU have a reading comprehension problem. *sob*) and not Ottawa. Bobby Butler has struggled this season after a strong finish last year, and Stephane Da Costa has shown flashes of high-end talent--though he has not completely put it together yet. It's far too early to know how Schneider fits in the picture, but we do know he will get an opportunity if he plays well enough to earn one.

(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week. If you're wondering why it's late, blame The Walking Dead.)

Not a bad week for the Senators, as they grabbed five of the six points possible in their games against Tampa Bay, New York (Rangers version), and Buffalo. They outscored their opponents 14-7 in those three games if you count shootout goals (and we do), so things are running at a nice clip. Of course, seven of those goals came in one game against Tampa Bay, but holding the top team in the conference to one goal isn't a bad feather in your cap, either. This week sees the Senators play just three games again, all against division rivals: a home-and-home with Montreal, and then a Saturday game against Toronto. The Canadiens are last in the conference, while the Maple Leafs are clinging to fading playoff hopes.

This stretch of games may represent Ottawa's best opportunity to pick up six points for the remainder of the year. The opportunity to do it at the expense of bitter division rivals just makes it that much sweeter.

Biggest Gains: Ben Bishop
His play hasn't been as electrifying as that of the man he replaced, Robin Lehner's Dad's Son, but he has been steady enough to give the team a chance to win every game he's played, and as noted above, they've recorded a point in every game that he's played. There's no argument that Craig "Master Chef" Anderson gives the team its best chance to win in the playoffs, but the job of a backup is to provide stability in net while the starter is out. Bishop is doing exactly that.

Biggest Losses: Matt Carkner
Seems like he's been permanently scratched at this point. We're not blown away by Matt Gilroy's audition so far, but the fact that the team is not willing to give its most physical defender a chance to find his game prior to the playoffs is unfortunately very telling about what they think he can do for them for the rest of this year.

(read on for the complete rundown...)

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In 2007, John Paddock was handed a gift of a team. A Cup finalist team. And for 17 games, it appeared he coached that team about as well as possible, with a 15-2 record. Yet, only a few months after that, he was fired. And in my mind, there's only one reason for his firing: He was not a very good coach. Why was Paddock not a very good coach? He was not adaptable. His plan of attack worked well for a month and a half, but eventually stopped working. Why? Like Dikembe Mutombo, John Paddock had one solution for every problem: Not "Dunk on them!", but Dany Heatley - Jason Spezza - Daniel Alfredsson.

On the power play? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

On the penalty kill? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Need a goal to get your team going? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Need to extend the lead? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Trying to protect a lead? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Last minute of the game? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Your goalie isn't feeling confident? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Their goalie looks shaky? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Didn't pack your lunch that day and need a free slice of pizza? Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson.

Of course, the flaw in this plan was obvious: Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, and even Daniel Alfredsson are merely men, and hockey is an extremely intense game. Men have limits, and Paddock was pushing his best players beyond theirs.

Why he chose to do this is not a question that I can answer. Perhaps he didn't feel his other players were capable of carrying the load. Perhaps he thought it was simply logical to play the players that gave him the best chance of winning--after all, the line had been dominant since its creation.

But it also resulted in Ottawa becoming a one-line team. Shut down that top line and the team lost. As the three players on that line wore down due to overuse, shutting them down became easier and easier. This, of course, necessitated playing them more and more, creating a vicious circle that could only end in one way: Paddock's termination.

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The last time the Ottawa Senators played the Sabres, they never led the game but won it in a shootout. This time, it was the Sabres who never led but walked away with the two points.

It was a night where the Senators outplayed their opponents for long stretches of the game, yet were repeatedly prevented from breaking the game wide open by a goalie playing a great game. Typically this season, that has been Ottawa's formula behind Craig Anderson, so being on the other end gives fans a sense of exactly how frustrating that can be.

Things started off well enough for the Senators as they opened the scoring with a beautiful shorthanded goal (are there any ugly shorties?). With Milan Michalek in the box for interference, Chris Phillips blocked a shot in front of the net, and chipped the puck to Erik Condra. Condra then chipped the puck off the boards to give himself a breakaway and beat Miller with a quick shot.

That lead would last for a while, but the Senators' best effort in a second period in a long time wasn't enough to put the Sabres away. The Sens recorded 21 shots to Buffalo's 13, but walked out of the period tied 2-2. Nathan Gerbe tied the game at one for the Sabres when he fired a low shot past a completely screened Ben Bishop. Bishop didn't have much chance on the goal, which would be a theme on the night. Erik Karlsson restored Ottawa's lead with a shot that simply had no business going in--it wasn't just a bad angle, it was practically behind the net. But the puck bounced its way in, and it was 2-1 Ottawa.

Unfortunately, the Sabres tied the game again with 19 seconds left as Tyler Ennis beat Bishop.

In the third period, Karlsson would once again restore the Senators' lead as he pounced on a loose puck and sniped a shot past Ryan Miller. And still, the Senators could not put the Sabres away as Marcus Foligno recorded his first NHL goal in his second NHL game, some kind of flutterer that somehow got by Bishop, who is rumored to be tall, but still had a puck go over him.

Once the game got to overtime, the Senators once again had outstanding pressure but could not seal the game as Miller stymied every great chance they could put together. Once Karlsson took a tripping penalty and then an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for complaining about his tripping penalty, the Senators were simply in hang on mode until the shootout.... which turned out to be a bad plan because on one end was Bishop, playing in just his third game for the Sens, and on the other end was Ryan Miller, who is generally hard to beat (unless you're Sidney Crosby).

Only Daniel Alfredsson scored for the Senators in the skills competition, while Jason Pominville and Ennis were able to beat Bishop, who definitely looked inexperienced, and rightfully so. Both players are great shooters, and stopping one is a tall order. Stopping both is asking too much.

It's one of those "coulda, shoulda, woulda" games. The team earned a point, but easily could have had two. Not much else to say. The Senators clearly knew the Sabres were a desperate team with the way they continually pressured them, but couldn't find the kill shot tonight.

(read on for heroes and zeros...)

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

The week started off well for the Senators, as they beat the New York Islanders 5-2, and finally won against the Boston Bruins, 1-0. The rest of the week? Not so good, with a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks and a 4-2 implosion against the Florida Panthers--a game where the team surrendered four unanswered goals to blow a two-goal lead. Not exactly a great showing.

They still have a decent foothold on a playoff position, though, so it's not panic time just yet. Still, the upcoming schedule gives the Senators no gifts. If they want to keep that foothold in tact, they're going to need to find two things: consistency in their play, and offense from someone besides Spezza or Karlsson.

Biggest gains: Robin Lehner
Help us, Robi-Wan Lehnobi. You're our only hope. Lehner got his chance to after Alex Auld blew his, and unlike Auld, Lehner seized in and ran with it, putting together three solid performances--including recording his first career shutout over the defending Stanley Cup champions. That's not too shabby. Lehner showed he was human in the loss to Florida, but players become great by rising to great challenges, and that's an ability Lehner flashed for the second time in two years. He's the future.

Biggest losses: Zack Smith
Though Z. Smith recorded six hits in the win over the Islanders, there was something he didn't record: a point. Z. Smith has been ineffectual for a while now, with his last point (a goal) coming against the Islanders on February 3rd. He certainly brings other skills to the table, but simply being a good penalty killer and not giving a crap aren't good enough to center a third line in the NHL. Things came to a head on Sunday, when he was scratched to make room for Rob Klinkhammer.

(read on for the full run-down...)

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There's not really much to say about this one. The Senators were thoroughly outplayed by the Blackhawks. Chicago was able to attack Ottawa all night long with speed that the young Senators players simply had no answer for. Erik Karlsson, frequently one of the fastest players on the ice, was unable to use that speed as one of his advantages tonight. Though Karlsson joined several rushes, especially as the need for a goal increased, he wasn't able to get the separation he normally does, nor was he able to create any time or space in the offensive zone--he was constantly pressured by Chicago players. The result was that Karlsson's outstanding points streak came to an end.

With Karlsson neutralized, the pressure fell to his teammates, and unfortunately they were not able to deliver. Ottawa's only goal of the game, Milan Michalek's 29th of the year, was the result of a perfect shot beating Blackhawks goaltender Ray Emery: Jason Spezza created a turnover, and fed Michalek, whose quick release and perfect aim beat Emery before he could get completely set. Coming at about the 15-minute mark, it was only Ottawa's fifth scoring chance of the game.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, peppered Sens goalie Robin Lehner with shots, and though he acquitted himself extremely well in a game in which he did not get much help from his teammates, his positioning was frequently a little wild, forcing him to make desperate, lunging saves.

The lowlight of the night came at the 18-minute mark of the third period, when Ottawa was unable to pull Lehner for almost a minute and thirty seconds because they simply could not gain possession of the puck. Though the team showed significant improvement in their effort level in the third, they simply had no answer for Chicago's speed when the game was on the line. Though the Senators came into the game as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and the Blackhawks the sixth seed in the Western Conference, the difference between the two was noticeable, and should serve as a reminder to giddy Sens fans that this is a team just beginning their rebuild.

This season is an extremely positive step forward, but when measured against a contender built on speed and not power, it's obvious the team has some more holes to fill.

(read on for heroes and zeros...)

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

Impressive week for the Sens, as they went 3-1-0, with wins coming over the New York Islanders (twice) and Washington Capitals. The loss was a grinding disappointment against the Boston Bruins. Still, the Senators outscored their opponents 19-9 during the four games they played--so things went just about as well as could be expected.

Unfortunately, there was also some bad news, as master chef Craig "Gordon Ramsay" Anderson managed to cut his hand while trying to separate frozen chicken. Anderson makes enough to afford warm water in his house, so we're not sure what the problem was.

The nature of Anderson's injury exposed a major lack of goaltending depth in Ottawa's pipeline, so general manager Bryan Murray went out and got himself a good, young prospect in Ben Bishop. The price, of course, was a second rounder... in 2013. What does that mean for Ottawa's current goaltenders? Well, it's not good for one of them...

Biggest gains: Erik Karlsson
On Sunday, Karlsson broke a record that stood since the Senators franchise rejoined the NHL. And it looks like he is poised to set a record that will probably not be touched for the next 20 years. Add to that his 12 points in four games, and there can be no doubt about which Senator had the best week. Karlsson is putting up ridiculous numbers.

Biggest losses: Alex Auld
We don't usually single out a player for one bad game, which is what happened to Auld on Saturday against Boston. But the bottom line is that Auld played a game that didn't inspire any confidence in his teammates or his GM--you have to believe that Murray's acquisition of Bishop was a pretty strong statement on his faith in Auld's ability to play backup effectively down the stretch and into the future with the team.

(read on for the full rundown....)

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The game is tied 1-1. The Senators are hanging with the defending Stanley Cup champions. Brad Marchand comes down the left wing and takes a shot from far out. And Alex Auld watches the puck cruise over his glove. At the NHL level, it's a routine save: you move to the top of the crease so that there's only one place the shooter can aim at, and then you fill that place with your glove.

Alex Auld did not do that, and the Senators weren't the same afterwards.

The game started off very well for the Sens. The Bruins made a strong push off the opening faceoff, but Auld made a fantastic save and the breakout was started by--who else?--Erik Karlsson. Karlsson fed Jason Spezza, who fed the speeding Milan Michalek up the middle. Michalek dished backwards to Spezza, and instead of shooting at the net and letting the driving Michalek try to grab a rebound--a tall order against Tim Thomas--Spezza threw a no-look pass to the trailing man, none other than Karlsson, and Karlsson buried his shot.

The Bruins answered quickly, with Patrice Bergeron putting in a rebound of a Zdeno Chara slap shot, and this was a goal where Auld could not be heavily faulted. I felt that it was the kind of shot Craig Anderson would have saved by being square to the shooter, and swallowing the puck. But Auld was forced to make a toe save, and Karlsson wasn't able to prevent Bergeron from getting the loose puck and putting it in.

After that, the goal I described above happened, and the Sens visibly deflated. It was reminiscent of the kind of bad goal effect that we saw from Brian Elliott last year. With no jump in their game, the Senators were instead jumped upon, and one team looked like they were playing playoff hockey while the other looked like they were still playing early season hockey. Ottawa kept trying to make pretty passes, which resulted in what can only be described as an avalanche of turnovers. Meanwhile, the Bruins gave up absolutely no space, routinely harassing Ottawa's puck carriers with more than one man, and unleashing the heaviest forecheck I've seen Ottawa face all year. At times, it seemed like Boston was cycling the puck at will--and why not? They knew if they made a mistake, the puck would wind up right back on their sticks.

Chris Neil provided a late spark with a huge hit and a fight against Chara, and Ottawa responded with some heavy pressure of their own. Despite two late laserbeam goals from captain Daniel Alfredsson, the Sens couldn't find the equalizer and Bergeron iced the game with an empty net goal.

The positives: The Senators showed they're capable of playing against any opponent when they have the right mindset.

The negatives: The team demonstrated no confidence in front of Auld.

(read on for heroes and zeroes...)

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Before we start this recap in earnest, I want to set the table with some highlights. Senators fans should be aware that their team put together a 6-0 drubbing of the New York Islanders on Monday, but their opponent, the Washington Captials, also played on Monday. How they fared in that game is crucial to how this game played out, so here are some highlights of a game the Senators did not play in that you should still really watch:

Now, coming into this game, the Capitals did not have Nicklas Backstrom or Alex Ovechkin, out with a concussion and "lower body injury," respectively. Backstrom has been out since early January; Ovechkin was injured against Carolina on Monday. Though Andy Sutton might question my interpretation, the video shows a reeling team as Ottawa's opponent. Yet, despite all the turmoil, the Capitals entered the game just two points behind Florida for the Southeast Division lead--those two points were the difference between 10th place and 3rd place in the Eastern Conference standings. Wounded team, wounded pride, a chance to move into a playoff spot on the line... a prime opportunity for a team to blast out of the gates, right?

Wrong.

The first period began with a staccato of play broken up by whistles, with eight stoppages of play by my count before the period was even two minutes old. And while the Capitals were by no means disheartened by the start, they were able to generate absolutely no momentum. With no chance to pounce on the Senators, the pendulum began to swing the other way, and Ottawa did not miss out on their chance to pounce on an undermanned team lacking in confidence.

The Sens' onslaught began with a goal from their best defenseman, thinly-veiled Sens Hero Erik Karlsson. Before the period was ten minutes old, Jason Spezza found Karlsson all alone at the top of the circle. Karlsson had plenty of time to pick his shot, and with no one challenging him, there was no reason he wouldn't make a perfect shot. He did, and it was 1-0.

Not long after, Karlsson set up his fellow thinly-veiled Sens Hero Milan Michalek with a pass that was simply superb: he fired a slapper that bounced off the boards and saucered right onto the tape of Michalek's stick. Oh, and Michalek was in full stride at the Capitals' blue line when he received the pass. Karlsson may have a future in billiards if this whole hockey thing doesn't work out. Anyway, Michalek then put the puck through a defenseman's legs, did a little backhand-forehand-backhand action, and flipped the puck into the net to increase the team's lead to two.

So, the Senators skated into the second with a quality lead despite getting outshot 11-7. The next goal would be crucial to the outcome of the game: if the Capitals scored, it would inflate their bench; if Ottawa scored, it would deflate their bench. With the period barely three minutes old, Erik Condra drew a tripping penalty on Mike Green while driving to the net, and the Senators' power play went to work. Karlsson, working the point, faked a shot, while forced the defender clogging his shooting lane to move out of the way. He then ripped a bouncer that hit just about everybody's stick on its way to the net. The last stick it hit? Michalek's--and that set a new career high in goals for Ottawa's winger.

To their credit, the Capitals did not give up after what should have been a back-breaking goal, but couldn't generate much in quality scoring chances. When the Senators got another power play opportunity due to a Troy Brouwer unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (presumably not for meowing), Big Game Chris Phillps scored his fourth goal in six games to give the Senators a 4-0 lead. Game over, right?

Wrong.

This is where things got a little wonky for the Senators, and it's a little disturbing to see. The Ottawa Senators of earlier this season would have taken the third period by storm, not content to win by playing 40 good minutes. This night, they looked perfectly content to play their 40 and coast on their lead to the final whistle. This plan was crappy, as the Capitals seized the chance given to them, bagging a John Carlson power play goal early in the period, and a badass goal from Mathieu Perreault at about the halfway point. Why was it badass? He scored it with his face. Seriously. Check the highlights.

Of course, with a game on their hands again, the Senators had trouble turning the offense back on, as is so often the case with sports. The Capitals continued to pressure, and several great saves from Craig Anderson kept the Senators in the game until an empty net goal from Nick Foligno sealed the win.

The positives: Ottawa could have won this game handily had they executed for 60 minutes.

The negatives: Ottawa did not execute for 60 minutes.

Still, how you win a game doesn't affect how many points you get. Ottawa now sits at 72, just two behind Boston for the division lead. No one expected that. Ottawa's next game is against those Bruins, and its playoff implications are bigger than Karlsson's arms.

(read on for heroes and zeroes...)

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(Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.)

Before we start, I want to give a big shout out to community members SwedeTom and TheGuineaPig for their most excellent fan posts this weekend. Since there's a ridiculous afternoon game today, the front page is about to get spammed with a GDT, a recap, and maybe even some Silver Nuggets if there's no Star Trek marathon anywhere, so you may miss them, and that would be a shame. Check them out here:

• Jakob Silfverberg is ready. Let's just nickname him "Bonesaw" and be done with it.
• All-Time Sens Killers. Because masochism is okay if it's well-written, apparently.

Anyway, the Senators only played two games last week and won them both. That's because their daddies were with them. They don't lose when they do this dad's trip thing, and head coach Paul MacLean was smooth enough to include the dads in the locker room for pre-game preparations.

Why don't the Senators just have their dads along all the time, you ask? Because eventually they'd get fed up and hate hockey. Just ask Robin Lehner's dad's son.

Biggest gains: Hasse Alfredsson
No, I'm just kidding. Our newer readers may not understand the meme behind the image, which is not of Alfie's actual dad. During the Sens' first dad's trip, Hasse had missed a goal Alfie had scored. It was quickly decided in the comments that Hasse wouldn't have been impressed anyway, because as a dad, he would have been the one to teach Alfie everything anyway, having done it all before himself. Now Hasse is unimpressed by everything according to Silver Seven.

Biggest gains: Jason Spezza
We wanted to give this to the much-maligned Bobby Butler, who had a great week, but Spezza had seven points (3G, 4A) in two games. And on back-to-back nights. When you consider that the team scored 10 goals in those two games, Spezza's impact becomes even clearer: he was involved in some way on 70% of all of Ottawa's offense for the week. That's a good little run, there.

Biggest losses: Matt Carkner
Scratched for the entire father's trip, Carkner doesn't have much to show for himself recently. Considering Brian Lee's strong play and Carkner's UFA status, there's a very real chance that he might have played his last game in a Sens jersey this year--he might be eyed by a playoff team seeking toughness. If MacLean isn't going to play him, general manager Bryan Murray might just trade him.

(read on for the full rundown...)

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Interesting game tonight. It went a little bit like this:

Slow start. Some good Craig Anderson saves. Jim O'Brien goal out of nowhere. Strange Anderson goal. Kaspars Daugavins goal out of nowhere.

And then... the floodgates opened, as everyone from the top line got in on the action. Alfie scored. And then Filip Kuba put one in. Absolutely ridiculous.

The play in this game was pretty even, even if the shots weren't--Florida outshot Ottawa 44-31. Still, there was a really promising sign: The fourth line kept the team in the game until the stars woke up, and then they took the game over. These are the kinds of things that the Senators need to have happen if they're going to win consistently. As a matter of fact, this game is best recapped by the avalanche of heroes you're about to read, so let's get to that.

Sens Hero: Kaspars Daugavins
Probably played his best game of the season with a goal and an assist. And what an assist it was: on the penalty kill, he sprung Daniel Alfredsson on a breakaway with a perfect pass. Now, Alfie was not coming off the bench to create this breakaway--it was a great read by both forwards. Daugavins played the fewest minutes of any Senator, so he really made them count. It was great to see.

(read on for all the heroes...)

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