I have good news and bad news. First, the good news is that Erik Condra is red-hot, and has scored in back to back games for the first time since March of 2011.
The bad news is that in the last 123:28 of game time, Erik Condra is the only Ottawa Senator to be able to find the back of the net.
After exploding for a season-high 6 goals against the Ducks on Friday night, Ottawa was inconsistent against Montreal, and unlucky against Washington and they have now dropped back to back games heading into the Christmas break.
Ottawa probably deserved a bit better fate, firing 67 shots in the direction of Braden Holtby, who stood tall especially during a first period flurry where they put 15 pucks on goal and couldn't find the icebreaker. Holtby made incredible saves on both Clarke MacArthur and Kyle Turris to keep the game scoreless.
Craig Anderson was just as solid in the Ottawa goal, and could hardly be faulted for the game winner off the stick of Nicklas Backstrom. That winner came on a power play that was a result of a ridiculous flop by Alex Ovechkin where the Great Eight somehow avoided taking a diving penalty at the same time as Eric Gryba was sent off for holding. The Senators didn't get the call, and the resulting game winner is that much tougher to take.
The Senators hit the break trailing the final playoff spot by what could be as many as 5 points and it is starting to get to the point where it is nearly impossible to a) make up those points while b) leap-frogging the teams they need to in order to qualify for the post-season. They have just 2 games in the next 11 days, so there will be a lot of discussion and rumors about their fate and what they should do with this roster as they approach the trade deadline.
LAZAR NAMED CAPTAIN CANADA As many people expected once he was released to play for the team, Hockey Canada named Ottawa Senators forward Curtis Lazar as the Captain of Canada's National Junior team that will attempt to end a 5 year gold medal drought (and 2 year medal drought) in the tournament.
Win or lose, the pressure and scrutiny Lazar will be under will only help his development. He learned to handle failure last year, and hopefully he will get the chance to lead the team to a successful conclusion this time around on home ice.
Canada plays their final tune-up game tonight in Montreal and will get the tournament under way for real on boxing day.