It was just the first game, and to be truthful I haven't yet looked at twitter feeds, message boards or comments this morning. I can only imagine the digital pounding Jared Cowen is taking after last night's performance, and how vitreous the response to this post will be.
The 3-2 loss in Nashville cannot be pinned on Jared Cowen and Jared Cowen alone. Through the first 48 minutes of the game, Cowen was probably the Senators' best and most consistent defenseman on the evening. Then one ill advised pinch at the red line led to the Pred's second goal, but it would be a stretch to place the blame on Cowen alone for that one. Cowen was a step slow in getting to the back post, but a wraparound like the one Shea Weber put in should never go in. Craig Anderson bit on the fake hard and slid so far out of position that he couldn't recover.
Two other guys stood watching as Weber carried the puck from one side to the other, Erik Karlsson and Alex Chiasson.
Then again on the winning goal, the entire team was blowing the zone while the team had possession before Kyle Turris coughed it up at the blue line, allowing a 2-on-0 against Anderson. You could suggest Cowen shouldn't have been in on the rush, but down by a goal on a team that wants puck possession and blueliners supporting the rush, it is not a mistake. Cowen was the outlet on the far side, and it was Turris' turnover that led to the goal that turned out to be the game winner.
People will look at the stats, and see -2 beside his name, and start to bash the player, much like they did to Jason Spezza before him, but if you look at the situations and his game as a whole, it wasn't that bad and on most nights it would be good enough to win.
I don't want to come off as a Cowen apologist, and some of the criticism is certainly warranted, but it does tend to go overboard. Much like the criticism of Dion Phaneuf in Toronto, people tend to expect perfection on every play. Look at the plays leading up to the goal and not the still photo of who is in the picture when the goal is scored. And don't be fooled by the television "goat cam", the defending player who gets focused on after a goal is scored. It is not always his mistake.
Here are some other random thoughts on the game:
*Whoever is running the goal spotlight in the Bridgestone arena is suffering from a serious problem of premature illumination. Twice he shone the light on Craig Anderson and the puck hadn't really gotten even close to going in.
*I know it's early and won't last long, but both Chris Phillips and Mark Borowiecki are outscoring Erik Karlsson. Borowiecki's pass to Clarke Macarthur to set up the games opening goal from Kyle Turris was pretty sweet. Maybe Boro is the new Wade Redden of first passes.
* There seems to be a double standard in officiating between what is and is not interference. Borowiecki and Cowen both took similar penalties on "chip and chase" plays, getting called for interference. Anton Volchenkov got the same call for the Predators, so it was called relatively fairly. My beef is the defensemen aren't getting similar protection when they cycle the puck around the boards. Eric Gryba was nailed behind the net a full two seconds after he had rimmed the puck to a winger. If the puck is gone in one instance, shouldn't it be gone in the other.
* Curtis Lazar was good in his NHL debut, and was introduced to the league with a crushing hit at the Preds blue line courtesy former Sen Volchenkov. It could have been worse, as Lazar had his head down and Volchenkov appeared to let up just a bit.
* On the other side of the coin, other than being a decoy on Turris' goal, did Bobby Ryan even play last night?
* It was a nice touch for coach Paul MacLean to start David Legwand in his first game back in Nashville. Legwand didn't have a great debut in a Sens uniform, and his holding the stick penalty with 10 seconds left and the Senators on a power play ended any hope of a Pesky comeback. That, and he went to the wrong penalty box on his first minor. I guess old habits do die hard.
* The Ottawa power play had its chances, going 1 for 5. Alex Chiasson had a glorious chance early on but a diving Seth Jones kept it out. Ottawa got more power plays than they gave up, which was a rarity last season. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come.