By Brian LeBlanc
NCSportsTalk.com - Puck Drops
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There are some nights we have issues coming up with what to write in this space before some games. Tonight isn't one of those nights.
We've already recapped this afternoon's trade that sent Anton Babchuk and Tom Kostopoulos to Calgary for Ian White and Brett Sutter. Neither new Cane will be in tonight's lineup, as Sutter is being sent to Charlotte and White will need to clear immigration before joining the team. He will likely meet his new team on Friday in Pittsburgh.
The Sens enter tonight's game with heavy hearts. Earlier today, the team took part in a memorial service at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa honoring Daron Richardson, the 14-year-old daughter of assistant coach Luke Richardson who died tragically on Sunday. They are in the midst of an four-game road trip, and hadn't planned to return to Ottawa before the end of the trip, but the events of the past week required them to return to the city. They just flew into Raleigh this afternoon, and had no time for a morning skate. Given the circumstances, it's hard to know what to expect from the Sens tonight.
Brett Carson has been recalled from Charlotte (and his recall was our first clue that something might be brewing tonight) to take Babchuk's spot in the lineup and keep the seat warm for White. Patrick O'Sullivan will also see his first game action in three weeks, taking Kostopoulos' place on the fourth line. The Canes' healthy extra will be Troy Bodie, newly acquired from Anaheim, who will play on Friday in Pittsburgh.
It's been a wild day, and we haven't even gotten to the game yet. That will come soon enough...
3:55 1st: The Canes have had the better play early, and it's nearly paid dividends a couple of times. Jussi Jokinen had a five-hole chance on Sens goalie Brian Elliott slide off his stick just before shoveling it in, but as a reward for his effort Jokinen lost an edge and went careening into the end boards to the left of Elliott. Ouch.
4:25 1st: Canes lead 1-0; Gleason 2 (LaRose, Samsonov) And playing the role of the offensive defenseman tonight in lieu of the traded Anton Babchuk? If you had Tim Gleason in the pool, congratulations. Sergei Samsonov sprung Chad LaRose with a perfect pass at the Canes' blue line, and LaRose and Gleason had a perfect 2-on-1 set up as a result. Gleason took a pass with a second to set up, and he didn't miss with a top-shelf wrister over Elliott's glove.
10:15 1st: The Canes have had time lately to practice their power play, and it's showed on the first man advantage of the night. They're doing everything they can to create odd-man advantages down low...
10:41 1st: Canes lead 2-0; Staal 7 (Jokinen, Pitkanen) (pp) ...and another of those odd-man situations caught Elliott cheating and Eric Staal shoveled it home off a Jussi Jokinen pass through the five-hole. It was Staal's second good chance of the power play; a few seconds earlier Jokinen tried to hit him on a long cross-crease pass that was in the neighborhood but got caught in Staal's skates.
12:00 1st: Staal nearly had his second in 70 seconds on a clean breakaway off a shorthanded faceoff. He shot it wide, but credit to Erik Karlsson who played it perfectly and messed Staal up just enough to throw him off without taking a penalty.
12:40 1st: A great shift by Brandon Sutter and Patrick Dwyer nearly gives the Canes a shorthanded goal. They earned a standing ovation for their work, and it was well-deserved; the Sens were completely turned around in their own zone despite having the man advantage.
15:06 1st: Not to find fault in a team that's up by 2 and playing very well tonight, but the Sens' Ryan Shannon absolutely bulldozed Cam Ward with no response from anyone, save some polite shoving by Brett Carson. Not exactly a perfect way to stick up for your goaltender, though Shannon did take a goalie-interference penalty.
16:05 1st: Canes lead 3-0; Staal 8 (Jokinen, Corvo) (pp) Eric Staal potted his second of the night and #201 of his career on another rebound cleanup at the top of the crease. Just like last time, it was set up by Jussi Jokinen, this time on a slap shot from the blue line. Jokinen's had a quietly effective game tonight, so he may be turning the corner after all.
16:25 1st: OK, things got weird all of a sudden. Chris Neil did what he does best, antagonizing the opposition and trying to take some liberties with Jeff Skinner, which prompted Jay Harrison to jump in and earn matching roughing penalties with the Sens' Matt Carkner. So what I said about not sticking up for your guys earlier? Retract it a little bit.
16:46 1st: 4-0 lead for Carolina; LaRose 5 (Gleason, Staal) With the sides even at 4, Chad LaRose scored on a similar play to Staal's second goal, shoveling the puck in past Elliott's outstretched stick to bring a quick end to Elliott's night.
End 1st: It's painfully obvious that the Sens are, understandably, not at all engaged in this game. It's almost tough to enjoy the fact that the Canes are up 4-0 and outshooting the Sens 16-5 given the circumstances. Milan Michalek took his frustrations out on LaRose as the period ended, earning a four-minute roughing penalty to offset LaRose's two and give the Canes a power play on fresh ice to start the second period.
1:35 2nd: A dumb penalty by Eric Staal, for boarding Daniel Alfredsson deep in the Canes' zone while the Canes attempted a breakout, was matched by a dumber penalty to the Sens' Jesse Winchester, who stood up to Staal and dropped the gloves to get a piece of the Canes' captain, earning a roughing penalty in the process.
6:30 2nd: And that's the Joni Pitkanen that scares everyone at the RBC. A no-look backhand pass from just outside the crease ends up right in the breadbasket of Chris Campoli, who was the most unfortunate man in the building when a sure goal jumped over his stick.
14:50 2nd: Not nearly the shell-shocked Sens that we saw in the first period, and they're starting to skate better than they have all night. No surprise that it took them this long to get their legs under them.
15:55 2nd: Staal has had two separate shorthanded breakaways tonight and hasn't converted either one. He could easily have a hat trick...or one more.
End 2nd: The Canes had a 2-on-1 with a few seconds left in the period, but Pascal Leclaire kicked out Jussi Jokinen's bid for a five-goal lead with two seconds to go. Shots were 8-6 Sens in the period, indicative of how they played late in the period as the Canes retreated to a defensive shell.
1:26 3rd: Canes lead 5-0, free queso for all! LaRose 6 (McBain, Staal) A few seconds after a section to my left started a "We Want Queso" chant, Chad LaRose delivered the goods on his second of the night. Every goal the Canes have scored tonight, except the Gleason game-opener, has been a rebound that wasn't covered, and it's good to see the Canes getting in position to take advantage of the Sens' goalies' inability to cover the puck.
9:00 3rd: Their fourth good shorthanded chance of the night, Brandon Sutter hit the post on the short side of Leclaire. The chances the Canes have had while down a man have been incredible.
9:31 3rd: Sens on the board, down 5-1; Alfredsson 8 (Gonchar, Kuba) (pp) A few seconds later, a Jason Spezza screen in front of Cam Ward gave Daniel Alfredsson plenty of cover to roof a top-shelf shot over Ward's glove hand. Beautifully placed shot, and the Sens deserved one; they've controlled play for the last 15-20 minutes of game time.
13:44 3rd: Canes up 6-1 on a Staal hat trick; Staal 9 (Samsonov, LaRose) Any doubt this was coming? LaRose made a great pass to Samsonov to spring Samsonov and Staal on a 2-on-1, and Samsonov fired a perfect pass that Staal one-timed past a helpless Leclaire to put the Canes back up by five.
15:54 3rd: To no one's surprise, it's 7-1: Ruutu 4 (Cole) Another laser one-timer puts the Canes up by six, and this time it's Tuomo Ruutu doing the honors. Ruutu was left unchecked at the top of the slot and after a turnover behind the net that Erik Cole collected, he found Ruutu all alone for a rocket of a shot high to Leclaire's glove side.
End 3rd: No more scoring, and no doubt the closing horn couldn't come soon enough for the Sens, not even considering the final score. Shots in the third were 11-6 Sens, who trailed 28-24 overall.
Postgame: Honestly, the story tonight wasn't the Canes' beatdown of the Sens. It was the fact that the Sens even showed up mentally for any of the game, never mind carrying play from the end of the second through about 12:00 of the third.
In talking to longtime Ottawa Sun writer Bruce Garrioch in the press room after the game, the pain of the day was evident in him describing the day as "terrible. Just terrible." The memorial service at Scotiabank Place went for two hours, with friends of Daron Richardson taking the podium one after the other, and after that they have to board a plane and fly three hours south to play a hockey game? That's unconscionable.
It's to the eternal credit of Cory Clouston and the Sens' staff that they were able to get it together to play at all, never mind play well. The final score notwithstanding, the Sens deserve all sorts of credit for playing under absolutely impossible circumstances. Their road trip ends, mercifully, in St. Louis on Friday night.
Click for locker room audio from Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Chad LaRose. Paul Maurice's press conference is attached.
The Canes head to Pittsburgh, where they'll meet some new faces, on Friday night, then they're back at the RBC for a cross-conference showdown with Nashville on Saturday. However, we're going on vacation here at Puck Drops HQ for a week or so, meaning we won't be back at the RBC for another game until November 29 when the Dallas Stars come to town. Here's wishing you a happy Thanksgiving (a few days early, of course) and we'll be back in a little over a week.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
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