The Senators drop another one on the road. So far this road trip we have an OT-loss in Boston, losses in San Jose, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Today we are up for Anaheim, and let us all be honest that a win today is highly unlikely.Of the lot, the point salvaged in Boston was a gift, as would be a point stolen today in Anaheim. Realistically, the results of this road trip are about as can be expected.
At the beginning of the year I had my doubts about this team. I hoped that Michalek and Cheechoo would combine to compensate us somewhat for the loss of Heatly -- and I think we can all agree that Michalek has exceeded our expectations. Mike Fisher is on pace for a career year. Alfredsson continues to lead in all areas of the game save goaltending. LeClaire has made some incredible moves to keep the team in games they had no business being in.
The problems that have come up were not entirely unexpected: Kovalev was always referred to as enigmatic (which is a fancy five dollar word meaning inconsistent). The team still lacks at least two top-four defencemen, no matter what miracles Volchenkov and Phillips have been working. Karlsson showed though his stint in the AHL that his game on the small ice is steady, and now he needs to add the NHL caliber polish to it. Defensive discipline in general is, as it seems always to be, a continuing problem for this team.
Some problems were unexpected. Cheechoo was always assumed to be an under performer, but has turned out to miss even those expectations. Jason Spezza can't find the back of the net, something which nobody saw coming. And LeClaire was taken out for a month while riding the bench -- something which will make this year's highlight reel when the season's story is properly told.
Combine this with scheduling circumstance which granted the Senators a soft schedule of abnormally soft opponents, many of whom were playing far more frequently than the Senators and travelling much more, let the Senators draw out some more wins than perhaps they should have. Now, when the shoe is on the other foot -- with the Senators travelling more and playing game after game after game -- the losses are starting to pile up the same way the wins did earlier.
I'm not saying this team is as bad as this road trip is making them look. But they are by no means as good as they looked at home, either. The truth is somewhere in between, which is where they stand today -- tied for seventh in the east, grimly hanging on to a playoff spot.
The one thing I am going to say though is that I don't blame Elliot for the Senator's woes. I think that Elliot is a fine goalie who is being let down by the guys on the ice in front of him. I think he's been thrown into the deep end here and since he isn't a #1 goalie then we are seeing the results. Maybe LeClaire could have stolen some of these games that the rest of the team have been trying to give away, but then again maybe not. But ragging on Elliot is not going to fix anything.
The bottom line is that the team needs to get it done at both ends of the ice, and on this road trip they have not been doing that, and Brian Elliot just can't work miracles.
