It started out all sunshine and roses for the Senators, jumping out to a 3-0 lead with personal milestones galore, but the Penguins got the last laugh with 5 unanswered markers to send the Senators home with another loss.

Erik Karlsson scored his 100th career goal (and 80th point of the season) to get the Senators on the board in the first, as his slap-pass was deflected past Matt Murray by Pittsburgh's Carl Hagelin (Edit: It was Hornqvist not Hagelin who it went in off of). Recalled earlier in the day to replace a flu-ridden Marc Methot, Ben Harpur earned his first NHL point in setting up Mike Hoffman's 29th of the season early in the second, followed moments later by Freddie Claesson also picking up his first NHL point when Zack Smith made it 3-0 and the Penguins looked disinterested.

But then the defensive zone coverage that has been the bane of the Senators' existence reared its ugly head again and let the Pens back into it. Patrick Hornqvist spun off a check from Mika Zibanejad behind the Ottawa net, was allowed to walk out and have 2 whacks at the puck that trickled over the pad of Andrew Hammond. Then Zack Smith lost a defensive zone faceoff to Sidney Crosby and failed to stay with the superstar who was all alone at the side of the net to pick up a loose puck after Karlsson blocked a shot and put it into the yawning cage. Might want to cover the guy wearing 87...just a thought.

Hagelin tied it early in the third, and then put his club ahead later on, and Crosby iced it with the empty netter in the dying seconds.


The Senators D looked every bit like the young, rookie laden group it was, and didn't get much support from the forwards. Only 2 of the 6 were in the opening night lineup and half have spent a majority of the season in Binghamton. In fact, almost half of the skaters in the lineup for the Senators have spent a more time in the AHL than the NHL - Kostka, Harpur, Claesson, Paul, Robinson, Puempel, Dzingel and that inexperience showed in this one.

Pittsburgh came in as the hottest team in the league, and the Senators had chances to put the game away in the third period. Mike Hoffman hit a couple of posts on the power play and Alex Chiasson did what Alex Chiasson does, getting foiled on a wide open net effort by the stick of a stretched out Kris Letang. But they couldn't capitalize on those opportunities and the seemingly inevitable, frustrating comeback materialized for the playoff bound Pens.


---

Dave Cameron might not be the coach of the Senators for much longer, but he was named to the staff that will coach Team Canada in St. Petersburg/Moscow, Russia next month at the World Championships. Carolina's Bill Peters will be the had coach. Cameron could be joined by a number of Senators who might get a look including a ready-made line of Mark Stone, Zack Smith and J-G Pageau who have shown chemistry over the last couple of months, and Mike Hoffman would be a solid add as well. Cody Ceci and/or Marc Methot might also get invited to man the blue line, but certainly Patrick Wiercioch won't be on the list this time around with the disappointing season that followed up what was a breakout performance in last year's tournament.

Join the Discussion: » 20 Comments » Post New Comment

» Goodbye, and good luck!

» Can Colin White fill the #2C role as early as next year?

» Boucher staying put, at least for now

» Boucher Day

» Sens fall to #4 in draft lottery