Sports
Arrow
Columnists
Arrow
Title - Hockey Country
Follow OurHometown.ca on... Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Follow Me on TwitterGreg Smith is the Ottawa Senators' correspondent for OurHometown.ca. Greg was born and bred in Ottawa. An original Senators season ticket holder, he has followed the Senators from their infancy, including attending the very first inter-squad game in Hull and first regular season game to this their 20th year in the NHL. Greg previously interned at CBC radio sports in Toronto for a month before hosting his own radio talk show on CKCU radio in Ottawa for two years. Passionate about his Senators, Greg will provide current news and views on the Ottawa Senators organization from a global perspective. Greg is the Editor-in-Chief of FightingForStanley.ca If you have questions or wish to contact Greg, you can email him at gsmith@ourhometown.ca.
Craig Anderson solid as the Senators bounce back with a 4-3 win over the Canes
Greg Smith
OurHometown.ca

Fighting For Stanley
Craig Anderson solid as the Senators bounce back with a 4-3 win over the Canes
For the third time this year, goaltender Craig Anderson bounced back from a game where he was pulled early, to put in a solid effort for the Ottawa Senators. Anderson was solid on the night, saving 34 of 37 shots, including 13 of 14 in the first period.
PHOTO CREDIT - Senators.com

Ottawa - November 28, 2011 - For the third time this year, goaltender Craig Anderson bounced back from a game where he was pulled early, to put in a solid effort for the Senators. Anderson was solid on the night, saving 34 of 37 shots, including 13 of 14 in the first period when the Senators were outplayed by the Carolina Hurricanes. Anderson’s solid effort and Jason Spezza’s two goals lead the Senators to a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Jason Spezza

Jason Spezza scored his seventh and eight goals of the season in the first period to give the Senators a 2-1 first period lead. Spezza scored for the first time in 12 games, with his last goal being on October 29th in a 5-4 win in New York over the Rangers. Despite Spezza’s 11 game drought, he still leads the team with 22 points (8 goals and 14 assists).

Spezza is definitely one of the leaders on this team. His leadership skills on and off the ice are improving. Not only does he lead by example on the ice but he’s constantly talking to the young players on the bench. His defensive play has also improved and I haven’t seen any of those dreadful back passes he used to make in opposing team’s end.

Penatly Killing

The penalty killing unit has been the topic of many of our articles this year. Coming into the game the Senators were ranked 26th in the league with a penalty killing efficiency of 79.2%. The Senators have been particularily bad at home where they have only killed off 72.9% of their short handed situations. Tonight, the Senators killed off 7 of 8 shot handed opportunites. A big part of the penalty killing was the play of Craig Anderson. Your goaltender often has to be your best penalty killer and tonight Anderson was.

The Senators still do seem lost sometimes on the penalty kill. They often get themselves in situations where positionally they are running around. Tonight, they got caught running around on a couple of the penalty kills only to have Anderson bail them out. I’m not sure why the penalty kill has been so much worse at home (83% on the road), but the Senators have put themselves in the hole quite often at home by taking bad penalties and then killing them off.

Erik Karlsson

Erik Karlsson added two assists tonight and now leads all defensemen in scoring with 21 points (1 goal and 20 assists). The third year pro, Karlsson is leading all defensemen in all-star ballotting. After a rough start to the season Karlsson’s play has been getting better each game. His smooth skating style and lack of panic in pressure situations is showing his maturity. He’s been great on the power play with Sergei Gonchar this year and despite the odd defensive lapse in his own zone, he’s been solid. Coach Paul MacLean has shown lots of confidence in Karlsson which is evident based on the amount of ice time he gets.

The Senators now go back on the road for the next three games in Winnipeg, Dallas and Washington before returning home for a game against the Lightning a week from Monday. These next three games will be a nice test for the road weary Senators.

Parting Shots

  • Not sure about the refereeing in tonight’s game. I thought the call on Filatov was questionable at best.

  • Speaking of Filatov, I thought he was very good tonight. He almost scored in the second period but was stopped on a nice save by Cam Ward.

  • Zack Smith has been solid this year. Not only did he score his fourth goal of the season tonight which turned out to be the winner, but Smith leads the team with a +5 rating.

  • Phillip Kuba has been solid on the blue-line this season. His play has been solid this year and being paired with Karlsson, he’s the right match for the duo. His stay at home style matches with Karlsson’s style of taking off with the puck and playing offense.


  • Follow OurHometown.ca on... Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Follow us on RSS Follow Us with E-Mail Updates!
    Send Us Your Thoughts


    Title - Story Count
    8,402 Stories & Growing Daily...

    To date OurHometown.ca has posted a total of 8,402 stories! News, sports, hockey, lifestyle, opinion and more!

    Be sure to check out our Contributors and Columnists archives!


    Title - More OH Headlines
    Click on Photo or Story Title for more info
    Detroit Grand Prix Canceled for 2020
    Team Canada will not send athletes to Games in summer 2020 due to COVID-19 risks
    NBA to suspend season following Wednesday
    Lyn St. James to Race in Historic Trans-Am Series at the 2020 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
    2019 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Fast Facts
    OurHometown.ca News Database Last Updated:
    Jan. 28, 2024 @ 1:06 PM EST


    Footer
    Free Sitemap Generator