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A quick note before I begin. I'm nominated in the 'Best Blogger' section for the Faces and Businesses in Ottawa awards (hilariously abbreviated as FABIO). Voting is
here. If you would be so kind, a quick vote for a "random, useless blogger"? In light of those legendary off-season comments, I can't think of anything more trolly than someone who resides in the United States winning such an award. And I promise my acceptance speech will be glorious.
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I promised I'd find a way to get a full(er) video of Riley Nash's goal -- Carolina's fourth on the evening -- because it was the defensive zone calamity to end all others. Here it is:
There are so many things to look at there. But let's see if we can break this down frame by frame.
Ottawa has on their "physical lineup" -- Jared Cowen (with Erik Karlsson) on the back-end, and Colin Greening, Zack Smith, and Chris Neil up-top. After a failed dump/forecheck, they're pushed back into the defensive zone.
The mess starts with Colin Greening and Zack Smith pinning down on the puck-carrier, and losing a puck-battle they probably shouldn't have. Not five seconds later, Andrej Sekera easily skates around both Chris Neil (who is giving somewhere between zero and no effort on this entire shift) and Colin Greening, who collide (!) in the process. Neither tries to recover on the driving Sekera. Smith's caught in a bad spot, and tries to stick his foot out to, I guess, trip the Hurricane.
Erik Karlsson, who I felt just awful for on this entire shift, makes his lone mistake -- a failed clear -- moments later. Carolina keeps in, creating another passing sequence and scoring chance in front courtesy Radek Dvorak.
Then, perfection. Colin Greening loses
another puck battle, Zack Smith bizarrely goes sliding on his chest straight out of the defensive zone, Colin Greening lets Andrej Sekera right by him in about two strides, and Riley Nash moves right into a shooting lane about seven feet out of Robin Lehner. Pass is on target. Ottawa makes no discernible effort to thwart the shot, though Chris Neil haphazardly -- this is probably overstating whatever he did -- moves into the lane.
Goal.
Where was Player #2 during this entire sequence? Helpless, mostly. He lost his stick after checking, I believe, Tuomo Ruutu. He spent somewhere between three and five seconds trying to retrieve it on the boards, then gave up and skated back into the play, stickless.
That's why Benny Hill / Yackety Sax is justified. I don't hand that out liberally, guys.
Where does "The Shift" come from, anyway? Like most great things, the Oilogosphere. This is a timeless classic:
That's almost a four-minute shift for Taylor Chorney and Jason Strudwick against Detroit some years back. How Oilers.
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Thanks for reading!
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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