Well, so much for building on the complete game that Ottawa put together on Tuesday in St. Louis. The Senators returned to their inconsistent ways, and along with it came the trend of being outshot by a large margin. Not even a heroic performance in net from Craig Anderson could save them as they fell to the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Friday night
Here are some random thought on the game.
* Chris Neil and Erik Condra, two of the more maligned Senators, have been (if not the best Senators), at least the most opportunistic over the last couple of games. The duo combined for the game's opening goal, and were also instrumental . That is good for them, but when a line of Legwand, Condra and Neil is your most effective at even strength, you aren't likely to win too many games.
* Other than that line, there really wasn't much to write home about from the other forward units.
* The proverbial huge save before a goal at the other end happened while the Panthers were short handed, following a great save by Anderson on Vincent Trocheck, avoiding being on the wrong side of a highlight of the night goal after the Panthers forward danced around Mike Hoffman. Cody Ceci gave the Sens the lead shortly thereafter, and then Anderson stood his ground on Huberdeau a little while later to preserve the lead.
* That was just part of the Goaltending Clinic that Anderson put on in the second period, making back to back point blank saves on Brad Boyes and Sean Bergenheim after both backcheckers skated past the net on the first attempt.
* Anderson was very good, but it also illustrates the difficulties that the pop-gun offense of the Panthers have. A more talented team would have cashed in on at least one or two of those prime time chances, no matter who was in the net.
*After surviving the second period where they were outshot 16-9, you kind of knew they were in trouble when Sean Bergenheim scored half a minute into the third. Ottawa had a couple of chances, but never really threatened with any sustained pressure, and their best chance came off the stick of Clarke MacArthur on a mid-period power play.
* Erik Karlsson is simply playing too much hockey. He is out there constantly, and he is playing hard minutes. Teams are grinding him down more, and he can't use his explosiveness to turn the game around offensively. Rushes where he used to dominate and get deep at full speed are fizzling out just beyond the blue line, because he is simply exhausted. He played over 32 minutes in Tuesday's win, and was almost 27 minutes on Friday. If you could keep him between 23 and 25 minutes you would get more from him. I know that means giving inferior defensemen more time, but in the end the benefits might outweigh the drawbacks. Ottawa isn't getting enough offense from the forwards, so they need Karlsson to generate more from the back end.
ON TO TAMPA
The Senators have no time to lick their wounds, because they head right across the state and step up in weight class to face (with all due respect to the Habs) probably the best team in the Atlantic Division.
The Lightning have been off since Wednesday's 4-3 win over former captain Martin St. Louis and the New York Rangers. Ottawa beat the Bolts on their first time through Tampa, 3-2 in a shootout with Robin Lehner getting the win, which was the first of the season for the Sens. Expect Lehner to get the start in Tampa again, with Anderson getting the nod Friday in Florida.
The Lightning are obviously led offensively by superstar Steven Stamkos, who is third in the league in goals and fifth in points with 28. Tampa is second in the league in goals for, and possess the third best power play in the NHL.
The Lightning have done remarkably well in the absence of standout defenseman Victor Hedman, who has been out for about 5 weeks with a broken finger. It is largely an anonymous blue line in the absence of the Swede
Ben Bishop has stood tall in the Lightning net, but his numbers have tailed off slightly from his Vezina Trophy nominated numbers of last season. However, he has never lost in regulation to his former team, with a 4-0-2 career record against Ottawa.