Game file: Bruins at Senators
With Bruins netminder Tim Thomas playing the way he is, getting the first goal was imperative on this night.
WHY THE SENATORS LOST
They didn’t capitalize on their early opportunities. With Bruins netminder Tim Thomas playing the way he is, getting the first goal was imperative on this night. While the Senators steamrolled Boston to the tune of a 12-6 shots advantage in the opening frame, they headed into the intermission down 1-0. Things unraveled in the second as the Bruins pushed their advantage to three goals. It was all but over at that point.
STUD
Tim Thomas, Bruins
Tiny, you’ve got company. Thomas tied a Bruins record that stood alone for more than 70 years by opening the season with six straight wins. Cecil ‘Tiny’ Thompson first accomplished the feat during the 1937-1938 campaign. The save of the night came in the second period when Thomas did full splits to rob Jason Spezza with his left pad — a move that would cause double groin pulls in mere mortals.
DUD
Chris Phillips, Senators
It’s tough to pick on a guy for one mental mistake, but Phillips’ put the Senators down for good. Playing the puck deep in his zone, he suddenly threw it to a surprised Mike Fisher in front of the Ottawa crease. Fisher couldn’t handle the pass and it wound up on Boston centre David Krejci’s stick instead. He buried it for the lead. Phillips finished a minus-two.
GAME CHANGER
With the Bruins leading early in the second period, Daniel Alfredsson managed to slip a shot past Thomas while getting tackled from behind by a Boston defender. What Alfredsson didn’t know as he celebrated under a pile of teammates was that the officials had waved the tally off. Mike Fisher was standing deep in the crease, preventing Thomas from sliding over to his left. Boston blue-chipper Tyler Seguin cashed in on a power play shortly thereafter.
YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
Alex Kovalev’s frustration. The man they call L’Artiste, who played on a line with Jason Spezza and Peter Regin, was the Senators’ best player by a mile in the first period. Unfortunately, none of his many A-1 scoring chances resulted in an Ottawa goal. After one series that included a stymied breakaway and a whiffed one-timer on an open net, he gave an exasperated shrug and eye roll. It was that kind of night.
KEY NUMBERS
- 1: Rank of Bruins’ penalty kill.
- 0: Goals for Ottawa on three man advantages.
- 2: Breakaways on one shift for the Bruins in Period 2. They scored on the second.
- 2: Consecutive shutouts for Thomas.
- +3: Plus-minus rating for former Senator Zdeno Chara.
- -3: Plus-minus rating for Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson.
SOLDIER STREAK
While the Thomas win streak treks on, the Senators had their own unique one snapped. Ottawa hadn’t lost a game in regulation (5-0-1) on Canadian Forces Appreciation Night — an annual program that sees the Senators, their sponsors and season ticket holders turn over their tickets to troops — heading into this one. The Senators honoured the Forces members and their families by sporting camouflage jerseys in the warm-ups.
I had no expectations, so therefore i was not disappointed by the Sens loss. As much as i hated Thomas for blanking us last night, i cannot deny the talent that this man has as a goalie. He struggled last yr, but has clearly made a huge comeback.Good for him , he deserves it. As for our boys, we ran hot & cold. The call back of Alfie’s goal was very demoralizing, & therefore, i believe that it was the beginning of the end. Usually, once we score a goal, we get very hot, but the penalties, we took, & those that Boston didn’t get called for, + all the turnovers we created, killed any hopes. I think that we allowed all the talk of how tough the bruins are, to get the best of us, & so we played most of the game in fear of making mistakes instead of just going out there and playing like we did in the panther’s game.When one focuses on making mistakes, that is when they happen the most. We will bounce back from this loss, & do much better next game. I guess CC wants for us to get a few more wins under our belt until he puts Lehner in net for an opportunity to show he can make things happen. I don’t believe that he would have been as nervous as Elliott was. Don’t get me wrong. Elliott made some huge saves, but had no defense for most of the game. We let the bruins just walk right on in. We lose or win as a team. It is time now to just brush ourselves off & get back to work.