The Ottawa Senators make a quick turnaround following their rather ugly loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday, making the cross-country trip to Vancouver where they face the Canucks on Tuesday night.
The Senators will no doubt turn to Craig Anderson, who on Monday was named the NHL's second star of the week, after Robin Lehner struggled against the Leafs. It hasn't been confirmed, but Anderson has won two of his last 3 starts, losing the other one to the Jets in a shootout. He has allowed just two goals in that span and has stopped 102 of 104 shots. With no back-to-backs on this trip and then a lenghty time off before they play again at home, look for Anderson to play all 3 games in BC and Alberta barring injury or a complete turnaround in his play.
The Canucks are one of the surprise teams in the West, led by Ryan Miller and his 10 wins in 12 starts. He will be looking to bounce back after he and the Canucks were embarassed 5-1 by the Kings on Saturday night, his last start. In the team's last game, the Canucks beat the Ducks 2-1 in a shootout on Sunday, led by Eddie Lack's first win in 4 starts on the season.
Both teams are playing their third games in 4 nights and 4th in 6, as the Canucks finished a very tough road trip through Colorado and all three California teams and took 6 of 8 points. Ottawa had a relatively successful homestand, taking 5 of 8 points although it finished on a bitter note against the Leafs.
The Senators have been relying on goaltending to carry them so far, as they have struggled to get consistent offensive production. Other than the kid line of Mark Stone, Curtis Lazar and Mike Hoffman, there isn't much consistency anywhere else among the forward group. Part of that could be due to injuries and lineup shuffling that comes with that, but part of it is simply underwhelming performances from too many players.
Milan Michalek (0 even strength points), Mika Zibanejad (2), David Legwand (2), Bobby Ryan (4) are all players who should be able to chip in at even strength and simply are not doing enough to create offensively. The team is even in terms of 5 on 5 scoring, and they cannot rely on special teams and goaltending to carry them all season, nor can they rely on 5 players to carry them offensively.
The lack of production from the Senators forwards could be one of the reasons Erik Karlsson has taken to cheat even more towards the offensive end at the expense of his own end, something they really don't want him doing. It hasn't had good results lately, and has cost the team a couple of games, or at least chances to win them.
The Sedins are leading the charge for the Canucks, adapting well to the coaching change and the fact that John Tortorella is no longer behind the bench. They have meshed will with newcomer Radim Vrbata on the top line, although Vrbata missed Sunday's game with an injury. Perhaps the biggest surprise has been the way Nick Bonino has stepped up in filled the spot of the guy he was traded for, Ryan Kesler. Bonino has 13 points (7 goals) and is a team high +9 as the Canucks' second line centre and scored the winner in the shootout on Sunday against his former team.
So, will it be a matter of the cross-country trip and not having the extra day to adjust (they would have traveled Sunday instead of Monday,if the Toronto game had not been re-scheduled) having its affect on the Senators, or will the Canucks have the dreaded theoretical "first home game after a tough road trip" let-down and take the Senators for granted?
Tune in to TSN5, for the late night (10:00 pm) puck drop.
LEAFS - SENS FANS FIGHT
There was a lot made of the scrap in the stands between the Leafs fan and Sens fan that sent them tumbling down the stairs. That is not something we are really used to seeing in Ottawa, but it is a commonplace in a lot of other venues. Part of it is due to the fact that when the Leafs fan base takes over the stadium, they get kind of a mob mentality and become a little more brazen. If it was 75-25 or even 80-20 in terms of Sens to Leafs fan ratio, it wouldn't be that big a deal, but when it approaches 50-50, and you add alcohol, it becomes an issue.
I know a lot of people with young children who have stopped going to Sens-Leafs games because of that fact, because it is a toxic environment. Part of the problem could be the fact that the Leafs games are so much more expensive that normal games for tickets. The Senators recently ran a "Captain's" promotion where you could get a pair of tickets to a game for $65...except the Leafs game, where 1 ticket was the same price. Putting a premium cost on the Leafs games invites families to look for other games, because of the prohibitive cost. I don't entirely blame the Senators for looking at those games as revenue cash cows, but it does opens the doors for more Leafs fans to get their hands on tickets, because a family will not pay double to sit in the environment that is not always family-friendly. The Leafs travel well as it is, and the proximity means that the price combined with travel and hotel is still less than what it would cost in Toronto, if you can even somehow get tickets. Combine that with a still-large Leafs fan base in Ottawa who only get to see their team 2 or maybe 3 times a year, and that is the recipe for what you saw on Sunday.
Leaf Nation as a group takes pride in taking over the Senators' home arena, and they are, on the whole, not afraid to be vocal about it, which in turn rubs some Senators fans the wrong way. It is as intense a rivalry between the fan bases as it ever was, even if the rivalry on the ice has cooled somewhat from its early 2000's days. And sometimes it is going to go to extreme levels.
I don't know at this point what the solution is. Should the Senators drop the premium pricing on Leafs games? I don't know how well that would work, because the secondary ticket market will still exist and Leafs fans will still pay a premium to get to the game one way or another. It might be a matter of waiting it out and getting to the point where the next generation of Sens fans, the ones who haven't known an NHL without the Senators, get to the point where their disposable income essentially controls the ticket base to the point where they can take the rink back. At this point, that might not even be enough, and this could go on for some time.