Montreal 4 - Ottawa 3

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This was a very big game in terms of setting the scene for the days and weeks to come in the Eastern Conference and Montreal made a big statement to Ottawa with a regulation win that brings the Habs within a single point of the Senators for the number one spot.

The Habs were up 4-1 midway through the second period on two goals from Tomas Plekanec and one each from Andrei Kostitsyn and Mark Streit. The Senators made a game of it by scoring a couple of goals in the third to make things close but the Habs held on for a huge 4-3 victory.

The Canadiens will host the flopping Maple Leafs (they got pounded 8-0 tonight by Florida) on Thursday before taking a trip to Ottawa to face the Sens again.

February 5 - Ottawa Senators

The Habs will host Ottawa tomorrow night at the Bell Centre in a big game that may very well set the tone in the upper echelons of the Eastern Conference for the rest of the season. Montreal sits just 3 points behind Ottawa with 53 games played apiece - the two teams meet several more times over the remainder of the season so this game, at this point in the season, is huge.

The Senators will still be without Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson and Martin Gerber is likely to get the start after Ray Emery’s rough 4-2 loss to Toronto. Christobal Huet didn’t play up to his usual standard in the Canadiens’ 5-3 loss to the Rangers on Sunday so I’m guessing Halak may finally get a chance to play - considering the import of this game, that may not happen. The call will likely be left to Huet as to whether he is too fatigued after playing two games over the weekend.

Habs Will Overtake Ottawa on Tuesday

Alright, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but here’s the scoop: Montreal beat the Islanders today while the Maple Leafs downed Ottawa 4-2. That puts the Habs 3 points behind Ottawa with a game in hand as I write this.

Montreal meets  the New York Rangers tomorrow and will come within one point of Ottawa with 52 games played apiece if they beat them. That sets Montreal up for a big win against the Senators at home on Tuesday to take a one point lead and first place in the Eastern Conference.

Cross your fingers, but I think we’ve got this one locked.

Nashville 6 - Ottawa 5

The Nashville Predators came out on top in a tough battle with the slumping Ottawa Senators tonight, winning the game 6-5 in regulation. Nashville’s goals came from Hamhuis, De Vries, Dumont, Suter, Gelinas and Erat. Ottawa’s goals were scored by Crovo, Vermette, Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson.

The high-paced game saw the Predators in the lead nearly the entire game with Ottawa coming back from several one-goal deficits to tie the game. Daniel Alfredsson tied the game at 5 with Martin Gerber out of the net and only 45 seconds remaining only to have Erat score another for Nashville 23 seconds later - the game winner as it turned out.

Ottawa increases its losing streak to 4 games; that means a slowly closing gap between them and the Canadiens in the Northeast Division. If Montreal can capitalize and take 4 points home over the weekend when they battle New Jersey (Friday) and Nashville (Saturday) we could see a new division leader before too long!

Zdeno Chara Vs. Bryan McCabe

Ottawa Senators’ Zdeno Chara looks like the trained wrestler he is as he tosses the Leafs’ Bryan McCabe around like a ragdoll.

Ottawa Senators Vs. Philadelphia Flyers

I’m not sure about the exact date on this game but it was practically a 60 minute brawl with at least 15 different fights taking place throughout the bench-clearing brawls.

Pittsburgh 6 - Ottawa 5

The Game

The ups and the downs! After scoring two goals on their first four shots on Marc-Andre Fleury to take a fairly commanding early 2-0 lead, the Pittsburgh Penguins managed 2 unanswered goals to end the period; Malkin and Malone did the honors for the Pens with Spezza and Phillips scoring for the Sens.

The Pens went on to take the lead in the second period with a nice wrist shot from by Kennedy only to have Spezza net his second after his picked up the puck on a fanned shot by Wade Redden on a powerplay late in the period to tie the game at 3. Danny Heatley added one more to put the Sens up by a goal at the end of the second.

Chris Schubert put another one in the net for Ottawa early in the third period to put the Sens up by two goals but that lead was blown just as the early 2-0 lead was. Two goals by the Pens in the third kept them at a 5-5 tie at the end of regulation.

The 5 minute overtime was uneventful and the shootout that followed was full of goals. Jason Spezza netted Ottawa’s first attempt and Senator goalie Gerber managed to drop the puck that he had saved into his own net on the Pens’ first shot. Each goalie made several saves following those goals, including a clinch save by Gerber when Sidney Crosby had the opportunity to win the game for Pittsburgh. Ruutu managed a nice goal on Gerber four shots later, clinching the game for the Pens.

My Thoughts

Well, I need to be honest here: I’m a Canadiens fan first and if they are going to have a hope of taking the lead in the Northeast division, the Senators have to start losing at least the odd game. Add to that the fact that one of my hometown guys in a Penguins star (go Sidney!) and you have me wishing hard for an Ottawa loss.

If the Pens want to curb this nasty streak they’re on then they need to do a few things. Players on the second and third line need to start producing, Fleury needs to figure out if he can handle the goaltending position and the defence needs to keep their back to the net and start breaking up plays before things go too far; no one wants a mad scramble in front of their net, and more goals are produced that way then with any other play. The Pens worked hard for these two points; hopefully that work ethic continues. I’m happy to see Ottawa lose even the one point!

Jason Spezza

Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators has been one of the most talked about hockey players in Canada since his exceptional play at the peewee level at the age of 15. Spezza played in the OHL that year for Brampton and became the youngest player ever to participate in the 1999 OHL All-Star Game. He played for Canada in the World Junior Championships the following year, joining Wayne Gretzky, Jay Bouwmeester and Eric Lindros as one of only four players to take part in that event at the age of 16.

Scouts around the NHL were submitting raving reports of Spezza’s achievements and he was quickl picked up 2nd overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. His NHL debut against the Boston Bruins saw him earn an assist and his first goal came only 5 days later against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Expectations of the 6.3 210 lb star increased as the Senators performed better and better and the hope of a Stanley Cup is high in Ottawa going into the 2007-08 season; much of that hope rests of the big shoulders of Jason Spezza.

Ottawa 4 - Montreal 3

The Game

Wade Redden put the Senators up by a goal only 18 seconds into the game and the Canadiens weren’t able to take a lead from that point on. This 4-3 Ottawa win saw the first goal of the season for Jason Spezza and the first goal of Nick Foligno’s NHL career.

Guillaume Latendresse was able to tie the game for the Canadiens with a badly-angled shot from the corner goal line that snuck past Sens goalie Martin Gerber nearing the end of the first period, but that tie game was broken only minutes into the second period as Foligno executed a perfect wrap-around to tally his first major league goal. Dany Heatley gave the home team a two goal lead before Michael Ryder knocked one in to bring Montreal within a goal going into the third period.

The third period saw a game-tying goal by Alex Kovalev that brought the Habs fans in attendance to their feet before Jason Spezza took the Ottawa lead back only 24 seconds later. Despite a good effort in the second half of the third period, the Canadiens came up one goal short when the final buzzer rang.

My Thoughts

Carey Price made his second professional start and suffered his first loss after winning in Pittsburgh last week but, save for Redden’s soft first period goal, he looked pretty sharp to me. While Huet was fantastic the other night in the loss to Florida, I’d like to see Price make the start against the Sabres on Saturday.

Higgins, while only managing one assist, looked as good as he did in Florida. Strong skating, good work on the boards and that great chemistry between him, Koivu and Ryder are continuing to make that first Habs line a force to be reckoned with.

What Went Wrong?

A soft first period that ended with a 1-1 tie following Redden’s early goal and Latendresse’s flukey shot that beat Gerber seemed to light a fire under the Canadiens in the second. That fire showed as they controlled the momentum for long periods but exhaustive passing and slow rushes after dumping didn’t allow them to create the kind of chances that beat a goalie like Gerber when he’s on top of his game. We may be early in the season but never is the time for half-assed hockey.