2007-08 Regular Season, Game 4

Senators 4, Devils 2


PRESIDENT’S 2 CENTS: No turkey hangover here! The home team improves to 4-0 on the season after raking in two piles of leaves, outlawing the lone rangers, and exorcising some demons. All 18,260 on hand at the Bank (first non-sellout in a meaningful game since Cupid hooked up 18,561 bums with seats last Valentine’s Day) had something hockey-related to be thankful for, despite an inconsistent second period and part of a third. The Cash Line continues to gobble up the league, collectively stuffing eight more points onto the league leaderboard. Highlights abounded tonight with the money unit, notably so on the second goal of the game, where the script looked to be drawn up as per usual: the captain corrals the puck along the half boards, feeds Jason Spezza, who dispenses a pass to Heat– oh wait, former Senators D-man Karel Rachunek got some lumber on it too! Anyway, script continued normally from there; Heater converted the slot pass, Rachunek remembered what team he was on, and shoved Dany over for good measure. The pass was unintentional of course, but quite entertaining … Entertaining comes to mind for the supporting cast as well, which had a solid night. Chris Kelly’s goal was the result of some fantastic blue-collar hack-away by Antoine Vermette, who opened the year’s scoring and was a star on the afternoon. He slid the puck over to Kelly, who connected on hack #2. Smartest play? Chris Neil, literally using his head and ducking while sitting on the ice with his noggin dangerously next to Kelly’s shooting lane … Speaking of Neiler, the quick dust-up with David Clarkson was quick because he was caught off-guard, but he was feisty enough while lying on the bottom that the young Clarkson made sure to check his chiclets afterwards … On the subject, the Sens were probably checking their, figuratively, after an aforementioned wobbly second. Still, they hung on. One one play, a Wade Redden clearing attempt ended up bouncing to “Tiny” Brian Gionta, as the 42-goal scorer broke in on Martin Gerber point-blank, but the Ottawa netminder stood tall. He was equally solid later on in the frame, when he outwaited and forced outside a charging Patrik Elias to the outside of a yawning 6x4. Gonna be a goalie controversy soon enough when Razor’s back …

… As mentioned, the second period was the Devils’. Not many scoring chances abounded, but they battled back and definitely had more of an edge, in obvious fashion when they held the Cash Line in check towards the end of the frame. They also made the most of any chances, notably on the Asham goal. They played smartly as well, when they forced the tired pairing of Redden and Andrej Meszaros to stay out for nearly three minutes after the Gionta chance … Speaking of chances, there’s a good chance Zach Parise’s goal wouldn’t have counted if not for the new HD overhead cameras that will be in all league rinks by the end of next week. There was just enough high-def white between the biscuit and the goal line for it to be conclusive. Lucky for Zach they’re already installed in the Bank … Conclusive was definitely the word on Wade Redden’s game-winner in the third, which also went to reply but was more obvious. Still, the episodes, along with the Heatley goal in the home opener last week, were perfect examples of how the league’s idea was worth the extra cash … Extra dough from that new $21 million deal is something Mike Fisher’s been earning sp far, especially with his physical play. Two big hits punctuated his night: firstly, the corner hit in the first period which prompted colour man Garry Galley to say “He created space for himself in the first three rows.” There was also the running back-style bump to Parise which flipped the youngster. At the end of the day, Mike does it cleanly …

… Today’s matinee was the first 2 Cents report on a game with Dean Brown and Garry Galley at the mike. Naturally, this made for some excellent one-liners. In lieu of the Line of the Night, we’ll go over a few gems. Firstly, Dean mentioned that 14 former NHLers had sons playing in the league this year, to which former journeyman defenceman Galley retorted “And you thought I played with all of them.” Galley’s three-rows line about the Fisher hit was funny too, but Brown added some well-directed sarcasm in the first: “There’s #27, you know him– nope,” he said in reference to defenceman Mike Motteau wearing the digits that used to belong to longtime Devils star blueliner Scott Niedermayer. Brown, who added, “I couldn’t resist,” was bang-on in questioning the move to not retire Niedermayer’s number, and sharply pointed out that GM Lou Lamoriello made sure Ken Daneyko and Scott Stevens—both of whom retired and spent their entire careers as Devils—both got theirs hung in the rafters. Niedermayer bolted the swamp, prompting suspicions of bitterness … On the subject, Jay Pandolfo has to feel somewhat bitter. The perennial Selke nominee, who today played in his 285th straight game and was a key to those championships, still does not serve as a captain or alternate. He and Sergei Brylin, who have both been there longer than the three current alternates of Elias, Gionta and Danius Zubrus, have got to feel confused. Here’s an all-in bet of two cents that new head coach Brent Sutter was trumped by Lamoriello for letter selection …

… Stat Line of the Night: 10 blocked shots (five each) for Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips, which tied them with the entire Devils squad. The Sens got in a way of a total of 25. It might be October, but this is a big reason why the Sens dispatched the younger Devils in five last spring … Anyone else think Devils assistant Larry Robinson is using Just for Men? The salt-and-pepper look suits him much better … Martin Gerber catching a rut and falling down early in the first period was extra funny since he synchronized his tumble with the direction of Chris Phillips’ stop behind the net to corral puck. Right after, the Bank faithful booed. Jury’s still out on whether they were grading the fall or a shaky stretch of play leading up to it …. Last but not least: let’s put the rivalry aside and extend the thoughts and prayers of Sens Nation to Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake and his family. Blake, the Leafs’ star new acquisition, was diagnosed with leukemia on Friday but apparently the prognosis is good and he will fight it while still being able to play. During this Thanksgiving season, it’s another reason to be thankful for good health, which can change at any time.