Game 64: Blues @ Senators

[Alfie11]

- Sens lose 4-3 in a shootout. They also lose Anderson to injury, and Lazar and Stone are pretty banged up to say the least

- Really entertaining game. This time it was Pageau's time to shine. He scored a goal in the final three minutes to get the Sens within a goal, and then tied the game with 0.1 seconds left

[thedaigle1]

Did anyone else get their Cody Ceci bobblehead last night? ;)

Officiating was atrocious but Ottawa buried themselves with a beyond lackluster start to the game. What really disappointed me as a hockey fan was how badly St. Louis played with the lead. They left the door wiiiiide open for Ottawa and I expected a lot more from a team that holds a playoff spot in the league's toughest division. They shoulda buried Ottawa 6-1.

Hammond looked great (not that Anderson played poorly). If you include the shootout, each Sens goalie faced a game's worth of shots and held their own. I dunno if it was great goaltending or poor shooting but one conversion on 22 combined shoutout attempts was brutal. And the OT (in keeping with the game theme) was a broken mess. Seeing 3-on-3 OT live should be illegal by the way. Second time now for me and it's taking years off my life. I think I'd rather go watch open-heart surgery and spare myself the grey hair.

Pageau's buzzer beater was one of my all-time favourite Sens moments I've been in the building for. I was thinking to myself the other day: does Pageau ever score non-clutch goals? It doesn't feel like it. ROFLOLz @ ppl who left with 3:30 left on the clock

Brandon, what was your reaction to Andy's injury? He tried to skate it off and I'm glad he and the training staff took the cautious approach. Looked like a routine kinda tweak but with goalies you never know.

Also, there was this save: https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues/sta...65188252483584

[Alfie11]

Thoughts on the game:

- Although we lost, this was a great game. Ray Ferraro said it best, "This is beginning to feel like last year again."

- The Hamburglar was great. He saved us the game so many times and in the shootout he was unreal

- Stone is going to be a superstar...heck he already might be. An amazing two-way player. He was pretty banged up but still made a difference in overtime, almost ending it and making two really key defensive plays. Despite having a mid-season slump he's really consistent and seems to be able to go clutch when need be.

- So .. Pageau, eh? A few nights ago it was Zibanejad who was the unsung hero. Last night it was Pageau. Two goals in the final three minutes to tie the game, including a buzzer beater. This team really doesn't give up. It's amazing to watch.

- Phaneuf has made a huge difference here. He was much needed. He's an offensive threat, he's physical, and he's been good defensively in the role he's playing. Although his contract sucks, it's amazing to think we got him for Cowen, Greening and Michalek.

- If the Sens want to pull off another miracle run, getting Bobby Ryan and Karlsson going again will be huge. I'm worried about the first, not the second.

[thedaigle1]

- Although we lost, this was a great game. Ray Ferraro said it best, "This is beginning to feel like last year again."

- The Hamburglar was great. He saved us the game so many times and in the shootout he was unreal

- So .. Pageau, eh? A few nights ago it was Zibanejad who was the unsung hero. Last night it was Pageau. Two goals in the final three minutes to tie the game, including a buzzer beater. This team really doesn't give up. It's amazing to watch.

Gonna go eat my free big mac to try and rekindle the burger time magic, thanks JGP!

[Alfie11]

Did anyone else get their Cody Ceci bobblehead last night? ;)

Officiating was atrocious but Ottawa buried themselves with a beyond lackluster start to the game. What really disappointed me as a hockey fan was how badly St. Louis played with the lead. They left the door wiiiiide open for Ottawa and I expected a lot more from a team that holds a playoff spot in the league's toughest division. They shoulda buried Ottawa 6-1.

Hammond looked great (not that Anderson played poorly). If you include the shootout, each Sens goalie faced a game's worth of shots and held their own. I dunno if it was great goaltending or poor shooting but one conversion on 22 combined shoutout attempts was brutal. And the OT (in keeping with the game theme) was a broken mess. Seeing 3-on-3 OT live should be illegal by the way. Second time now for me and it's taking years off my life. I think I'd rather go watch open-heart surgery and spare myself the grey hair.

Pageau's buzzer beater was one of my all-time favourite Sens moments I've been in the building for. I was thinking to myself the other day: does Pageau ever score non-clutch goals? It doesn't feel like it. ROFLOLz @ ppl who left with 3:30 left on the clock

Brandon, what was your reaction to Andy's injury? He tried to skate it off and I'm glad he and the training staff took the cautious approach. Looked like a routine kinda tweak but with goalies you never know.

Also, there was this save: https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues/sta...65188252483584

Actually, I wanted to comment on the officiating but I forgot. It was pretty brutal. It seemed like anything Ottawa did, they got called. But they missed glaring penalties on St Louis, and once again blew the whistle early, potentially taking away a Stone goal.

Allen played great ... St. Louis' defense was atrocious. The Sens could have won 5-3 if they converted on some of their chances in the third period.

As for Anderson, it was weird. He seemed to be injured a little earlier but shrugged it off, and then a completely routine play happened and went down. He held up longer this year but the annual late-season injury is upon us :P

[Matt the Aussie]

At least this injury is slightly more legit than "cut myself making a chicken sandwich". Still can't believe that actually happened.

Ottawa were atrocious the first half of the game and then St Louis were equally atrocious the rest of the game.

One thing I am really noticing - the Sens miss the net A LOT. It's great to create scoring chances and all, but at least make the goalie make a save? Laziness in our own zone is also killing me to watch. There was one play where Ryan didn't even look and just went for a backhand heave in the air...neatly controlled by St Louis at the blueline, and I believe they scored very soon after.

What a garbage goal by Pageau to put us back in it. I mean, I've seen my fair share of garbage goals against (Lehner was here...channeling Martin Gerber also) but that 2nd one was putrid. You just can't give up a goal like that. Ottawa always looked likely to score and who else but Pageau, with 0.1 seconds left?

[thedaigle1]

One thing I am really noticing - the Sens miss the net A LOT. It's great to create scoring chances and all, but at least make the goalie make a save?

19 times if my math is correct (and it's probably not).

How does Ottawa hang around with a midwestern team in possession metrics I asked myself? They gave up almost 50 shots against! Blocked shots were pretty much a wash. So the difference is that almost everything St. Louis got through traffic hit the net and Ottawa couldn't hit Allen to save their lives. Shot attempt metrics actually support Brandon's theory of Ottawa winning 5-3 if they had just converted.

[Alfie11]

St Louis looked really weird. They gave up so many scoring chances, it was only a matter of time until the Sens put them in.

Also, a really weird thing with Blues - Senators games. Five out of the last six games between the two teams have featured a Senators third period comeback. Four of those times, the Sens were down by two goals.

[thedaigle1]

St Louis looked really weird. They gave up so many scoring chances, it was only a matter of time until the Sens put them in.

Also, a really weird thing with Blues - Senators games. Five out of the last six games between the two teams have featured a Senators third period comeback. Four of those times, the Sens were down by two goals.

Do you get the impression St. Louis debases themselves against Ottawa? You know the way Ottawa plays all pooey against pooey teams? Hitchcock says his team "got sucked into a track meet." Is Ottawa some sort of vortex for high event hockey? Maybe the Senators may have found a black hole to a parallel dimension where teams don't have systems and just skate around shooting like madmen. I call it: High Event Horizon (starring Lawrence Fishburne as everyone).