The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the last NFL team to go unbeaten through a whole season, and on the day the final unbeaten team finally loses a bunch of them get together and pop a bunch of champagne bottles toasting their record. I wonder if Patrick Lalime does the same when a goalie gets close to his record and then loses. If so, Lalime is probably pretty hung over this morning because the closest threat to his 16 game points streak since he set it in 1996-97 ended last night.
It couldn't last forever, and Thursday night's performance against the New York Rangers was exactly why the Ottawa Senators battled so hard over the last month and a half to get a little bit of breathing room in the playoff race.
There wasn't much that went right for the Senators, as they were outclassed pretty much from the opening puck drop and didn't have much response to the Rangers, who skated away with a 5-1 win after chasing Andrew Hammond from the Ottawa goal.
With the loss snapping not only Hammond's shot at Lalime's record but the Senators' 7 game winning streak, they will try to put this performance in the rear view mirror, and turn their attention to the Maple Leafs who the visit on Saturday. While this one wasn't pretty by any means, the Senators got a bit of late help from the Ducks who tied the Bruins in the last minute and then beat them in overtime to limit them to one point. So the Senators and Bruins are tied for the last wild card spot, with the Senators holding a game in hand.
The good news is the Senators still control their own fate.
The biggest story was not the fact that Hammond was pulled, but also how healthy he is. After being run into by Logan Couture on Monday night, he has been on the limp since and didn't look as sharp as usual.
Lost in the Hammond concern is the fact that Chris Driedger stopped all 10 shots he faced in relief, making his NHL debut. I wonder if Dave Cameron is thinking, even just a little bit, about finding out if Driedger could catch the same lightning that Hammond found. While not likely, that would be a truly remarkable story.
Games like this one happen, and the team just can't dwell on it, and has to do their best to forget it ever happened and stop the losing at 1 game, not letting it snowball. There is no sense picking this one apart, because it will only serve to frustrate. That was their margin for error and they have used it up.