Mendes on Sens: Optimism in Ottawa
Posted February 29, 2012 10:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After the Senators 1-0 win in Boston last night, my Twitter feed was flooded with messages from Ottawa fans who were upset with the lack of coverage we gave to the game in our news show. Our post-game Connected show led with the Maple Leafs loss on home ice to the Florida Panthers, followed by several minutes of in-depth analysis of the mess in Toronto.
While it seemed like the Senators were being completely ignored, from a news judgment perspective this was the right call to make. The biggest story in the NHL last night was the “Fire Wilson!” chants at the Air Canada Centre. It warranted the over-the-top Leafs coverage because this was an over-the-top story that was too juicy to ignore. This wasn’t one guy throwing a waffle onto the ice; it was 18,000 people chanting in unison that the coach should be fired. I do think we are guilty of focusing too much on the Leafs, but last night wasn’t one of those instances.
Basically, Robin Lehner picked a bad night to post his first career NHL shutout.
But here in my blog — Sportsnet can’t control the amount of Sens content that I can provide. So here is the breakdown of last night’s win, with three key points that got lost in the shuffle while Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean were debating who should be the next coach of the Leafs:
Biggest win of the season
The Senators went into Boston and beat the Bruins 1-0. This is akin to going into Edmonton in 1986 and outscoring the Oilers 11-8. There isn’t a greater confidence-booster than beating the best team in the NHL at their own game — in their own rink. The Senators have hardly been known to be a defensive powerhouse this season, but this win shows they have the capability — on some nights — of locking it down with the best of them. It’s similar to their 3-0 win at Madison Square Garden back in the middle of January when they blanked Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers in their own arena.
These types of wins are critical because Monday’s game was a prime example of how a playoff game is played: tight-checking and low-scoring with a lot of physicality and great goaltending. (Unless you have a first-round date with the Flyers — and that whole goaltending aspect goes out the window).
Maturity of Robin Lehner
Speaking of confidence, how about Lehner beating Tim Thomas for his first career shutout? What’s amazing about this little run from Lehner is his confidence and maturity. People wondered how he would react after the club acquired Ben Bishop last week. Would he sulk? Would he threaten to go play in Europe? Would he demand a trade? Quite the opposite, actually.
He’s posted two wins and has been the biggest factor in the Sens rebounding from a lacklustre effort on Saturday night. And his maturity has been on full display in the past 72 hours. After the game last night, I asked him what it was like to beat the best goaltender on the planet for his first career shutout. His response: “I didn’t outduel Thomas — we outplayed them.” The Robin Lehner who was a loose cannon who made outlandish comments has been replaced by a guy who is focused, determined and humble. Instead of telling the world that he deserves to be in the NHL, I have a feeling that Lehner plans on showing it this time around.
Karlsson improves Norris odds
Yes, I sound like a broken record when trying to get attention for Erik Karlsson and the Norris Trophy. But here are two new spins to the debate after Tuesday’s game.
In the 1-0 win, Karlsson was on the ice in the final two minutes of the game, while the Senators were shorthanded. Paul MacLean admitted to me after the game that he was forced to use Karlsson in that spot because Brian Lee — a regular penalty killer in that situation — had been traded. Karlsson responded with a solid shift in his own zone; winning several battles for loose pucks.
As someone who has watched him every night this season, I can say that his complete game has rounded out. He also leads all NHL defencemen with 53 takeaways this season and has a respectable plus-15 rating, which ranks in the top 15 among defencemen.
The Norris is a reputation award, with writers often voting for players who have a track record of being a solid defenceman. This was on display last year when Nickas Lidstrom won the award despite having a minus-2 rating. So it’s critical to win over the writers in the major markets, as they have more votes and a greater influence on the entire process. Check out how Karlsson has fared in some recent games against the biggest media markets — Philadelphia, New York and Boston:
Jan. 7 @ PHI: 2 assists in 3-2 OT loss
Jan. 8 vs. PHI: 1 goal, 1 assist in 6-4 win
Jan. 12 @ NYR: 2 assists in 3-0 win
Feb. 20 @ NYI: 2 goals, 2 assists in 6-0 win
Feb. 25 vs. BOS: 1 goal, 2 assists in 5-3 loss
Feb. 28 @ BOS: 1 goal in 1-0 win
In short, Karlsson has left a favourable impression on the writers in these cities by having productive nights against the big market teams. I didn’t include his games against the Toronto market on this list, because we all know those writers have bigger issues to deal with these days.
