Getting to the points
Alfredsson subplot takes back seat to Senators’ struggles
To borrow from Bob Cole, “oh baby!” how things have changed since your Ottawa Senators were last in Motown, one month ago to the day.
Remember? The talk then was all Alfie, all the time. How would the Senators fare in their first matchup against ex-captain Daniel Alfredsson — and how would the heir to the throne, Jason Spezza measure up?
Things could not have gone better. On Oct. 23, the Senators walked into Joe Louis Arena and had their way with the Red Wings to the tune of a 6-1 win. Spezza had two goals, as did newcomer Bobby Ryan, punctuation marks on the team’s new direction. Heading in, the visitors were 3-3-2 on the season, and the thinking was this would be looked back on as the night the season turned around.
Instead, the Senators would not handle prosperity well. After the beat down in Motown, they were winless in their next five games, followed by three wins, and then losses in four of five.
After 22 games, the record stands at 8-10-4, and here’s an ominous note: The last time the Senators missed the playoffs, in 2011, they were 10-11-1 after 22, en route to a 32-40-10 mark, fifth in the Northeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference.
No wonder there wasn’t much Alfie talk before the wheels were raised Friday on a flight to Detroit. Out with a groin injury, Alfredsson is not expected to be in the Red Wings’ lineup this time.
“We’re at a point where we want to start winning some hockey games and play with some consistency in our game, so that (Alfie) subplot kind of takes a back seat now in our minds,” Spezza said. “It will be nice to see Alf ... whether he plays or he doesn’t play, our focus is on getting things back on track in the room.”
As usual, Spezza is the focal point of getting things back on track. Even No. 19 is picking on No. 19.
“I put a lot on me,” he said. “I want to be as good as I can be and I feel I can be better. I have to worry about not only leading this team, but playing better myself, too.”
Spezza believes some of the young players, too, are wrestling with the weight of expectations. Gone are the good old days when this group was everybody’s plucky underdog.
“Expectations have gone up, and with expectations come more pressure,” Spezza said. “It’s probably a new thing for a lot of guys in the room. We’re expected to be a playoff team, we’re expected to make strides as a group.
“That’s part of the natural learning curve of being a team — at times we’ve handled it well, at times we haven’t,” Spezza said. “We’ve let it get to us. We definitely need to be a more confident team than we’ve been.
“We’re not giving ourselves enough belief and enough credit for what type of team we can be. That, in turn, comes across as us being down and frustrated.”
On a personal level, Spezza is striving to be better and make his linemates better, including new winger Mika Zibanejad (“finally!” is the reaction on social media), elevated from the fourth line to whatever line Spezza might represent — most likely second, behind the Kyle Turris unit with Ryan and Clarke MacArthur.
Spezza, usually with Milan Michalek and Cory Conacher on his wings, has zero points in his past three games, and has been blanked in six of his past seven outings. Conacher has four points in 22 games and is being dropped to the third line. Michalek, once a goal-scoring leader on this team, finally ended a ninegame drought in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to Minnesota.
“I’m the centreman,” Spezza said. “It’s my job to get guys going who are playing with me. Whoever’s with me it’s my responsibility.”
The 20-year-old Zibanejad, who scored a gorgeous goal against the Wild while prone on the ice, believes he is up to the challenge.
“There’s always pressure,” Zibanejad said. “I just try to take one shift at a time. That’s what I’ve been doing so far.
“I like to shoot the puck and he (Spezza) likes to distribute it, so hopefully I can find a spot our there and he can find me. I’ve just got to use my speed as much as possible.”
Head coach Paul MacLean believes it’s time to tap into the potential of the club’s first-round pick, sixth overall, from 2011.
“He appears to be on an upcycle, and we want to try to take advantage of that, ” MacLean said.
If it doesn’t work out, some will blame Spezza, but what else is new? Bring it on, says the cap’n.
“I think I’ve developed some pretty thick skin over the years,” Spezza said. “I hear it, I understand it and I work past it. It’s realistic to have criticisms, some people may love my game, some may hate it but it’s up to me to play well for the group of guys in here.
“I’m 30 years old, now it doesn’t bother me like it did when I was 22, 23.
“I’ve just become more mature about the whole situation, I think.”
MURRAY LIKES TEAM
Fans might be clamouring for a shakeup, but Senators general manager Bryan Murray said he doesn’t expect to make a trade or a call-up in the near future.
“This is our team, I still think it’s a good group,” Murray said, reminding reporters that he coached and managed a lot of teams that went through tough slumps and rebounded to have 100-point seasons.
WIERCIOCH ADJUSTS
Patrick Wiercioch may have had an adjustment moving to the right side as a left-handed shooting defenceman, but it sure beats his adjustment to being a healthy scratch. After sitting out three games, Wiercioch will again be Jared Cowen’s partner against Detroit.
“I like it,” Wiercioch said of the right D position. “I can see why Gonch (Sergei Gonchar) loved it offensively. There’s definitely some openings and some opportunities in the offensive zone. So, It’s just a matter of seeing those holes.
Pencilled in as a top four defenceman this season, Wiercioch, 23, has had some growing pains, including missing seven games as a healthy scratch.
“It’s tough, because everybody speaks about experience — you want an experienced guy, but you’ve got to gain experience by playing games,” Wiercioch said. “The more you can kind of make mistakes and grow from them, never make them again, that’s the only way you’re going to grow as a player.”