TIME FOR SENS TO REGAIN THEIR IDENTITY
Pre-season losses have exposed some bad habits that need fixing — and soon
Still one week from show time, it’s now show up time for the Senators.
The biggest fear coming into this season is that the Eastern Conference finalists would get off to a sluggish, groggy start. That the Senators would suffer from a Final Four hangover.
Veteran defenceman Dion Phaneuf brought it up when camp opened. Head coach Guy Boucher cautioned how history proves teams that advance as far as the Senators did last spring almost always emerge slowly from the gate the following October.
Well, they are certainly trending that way now.
Pre-season games are meaningless in terms of the scoreboard, but not when it comes to bad habits that develop within them. And not when those patterns are emerging towards the end of the exhibition schedule.
The Senators open the season next Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre against a Washington Capitals team that should once again be among the best in the league. Playing anywhere near the way they did in an 8-1 loss to New Jersey on Monday and a 5-3 defeat in Winnipeg on Wednesday, they’ll be 0-1 off the bat.
Next up will be a home game against a Detroit Red Wings team that, after missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, is anxious to get back on track. Then a three-game road trip to Western Canada that will not be easy.
The possibility of the Senators falling to a danger point behind the eight-ball is high — if they continue down the dead-end road they are headed.
“Managing the puck, we didn’t do that well last game, and we didn’t do that well today,” Boucher said following the loss to the Jets. “When you don’t manage the puck well you sabotage yourself and you give your opponent a chance to pressure you, and that’s what they did. They did that well, but regardless of how well they play, we have to play much better with the puck.”
These Senators know how to play the right way. It’s what led them to the point they reached last May, when they came one goal short of advancing to the Cup final.
But for whatever reason, they are not following the same script. Will they be able to flip the switch when the Caps show up for the opener?
“We’ll have to,” said Boucher. “We’ve got to remind ourselves, and we’ve got to get our habits back.”
Plausible excuses for their recent behaviour exist.
Against the Devils in P.E.I., the Senators were probably still stuffed with lobster — and perhaps suffering a wee bit from an actual hangover — after enjoying a feast at the Phaneuf compound the night before. Nothing wrong with that. It’s the type of team bonding exercise that should be done at this time of the year.
But being dominated by a Winnipeg squad that had its best three forwards watching from the stands, when Ottawa was going with a mostly veteran lineup and wrongs should have been corrected, is not a good response.
The Senators had a 3-1 lead before giving up four unanswered goals, but as Boucher pointed out, it’s not like they faded ... they should never have been ahead in the first place. They were outshot 14-5 in the first period and 34-18 on the night.
Upsetting Boucher, along with the all the stick violations that gave the Jets seven power plays compared to Ottawa’s two, was the fact his team got away from its identity.
“We didn’t manage (the puck) well at all,” he repeated. “We didn’t manage it well on breakouts, we didn’t manage it well when we were squeezed and we didn’t manage it well in the O-zone either, on entries or O-zone plays. We didn’t have a shooting mentality.
“I don’t like our last two games. Last game you can understand, because there’s guys trying to make the lineup, but (in Winnipeg) we should have been better with the puck and we weren’t. When you’re not, you give the opponent momentum.”
For the most part, the Senators played like it was a Wednesday night beer league game.
“I know the guys don’t want to get injured,” said Boucher. “I know that. It’s not my first year in the NHL. I know. You’re trying to get your team, but at the same time you’re trying not to get injured, so you’re kind of getting half involved. I get it. But managing the puck though, that’s something we can do much better.”
The players, meanwhile, appeared unconcerned.
“We’re making progress,” said Kyle Turris. “We’ve just got to keep working on it. The more repetition, the better we get.”
Said Mike Condon: “You’ve got to take these games with a grain of salt. They’re more just working practices.”
The Senators have one practice game left, Saturday in Montreal. The Habs have yet to win in the pre-season, so they should be hungry.
It will be a good final test for Ottawa, a team many experts figure caught lightning in a bottle last season and should now fall back into mediocrity. Those people could be right.
A lot depends on when the Senators decide to show up.