Sens 3, Sabres 2 (SO) -- Excuse Me, Concierge? There's An Elephant In My Room

All of the talk before this game seemed to center around the possibility that the Senators were distracted somehow. Not totally focused on the task at hand, but looking ahead to some future opponent for some reason. As it turned out, a blown 2-0 lead would seem to indicate that the talking heads were right for a change. How in the hell did that happen? Hmmm...let me just consult my handy pocket schedule here. Ah, here it is. Thursday, January 10th...Sabres. Good. Right. Let's see. Saturday, January 12th, at home...Red Wi...oh crap.


The Highs:

• Dost mine eyes deceive me??: Less than two minutes into the first period, the puck is cleared into the Sabres zone. As I watch Spezza chase the Buffalo D man to the puck sitting in the far corner, I take a quick look to see whether our point men are ready for the inevitable Sabres breakout since Jason will just do what he usually does and wave meekly at the -- HOLY CRAP! A HUGE hit! Some poor bastard in a Sabres jersey lies crumpled on the ice! Wow. Just...wow. Seriously, at that moment Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster could have walked into my living room looking for beer, and I wouldn't have noticed.

• For my next trick, I'll do it blindfolded: Memo to Paul Gausted. The next time you fight Chris Neil, you might want to try a little more than just pulling his jersey over his head. If those four right hand bombs that you took to the face while Neiler was chuckin' blind are any indication, you may want to consider borrowing some of that bondage equipment your parents keep hidden in their closet. Or just bring the ball gag. Just remember, the safety word is "banana".

• Oh great. Now I'll never be able to call in sick again: Fish spent the day before this game puking his guts out. Right up until the pregame skate, there was talk that a bout of the flu would keep him out of the line up. So how does he respond? By going 100mph from the opening face off, centering Neiler and Robitaille on what was easily the most physical line on the ice for either team and scoring a goal on the shoot out. Thanks Mike. Thanks alot. The next time I have to drag my fever ridden ass to work only to infect most of my co-workers, I'm blaming you.

The Lows:

• Wait, wait, wait. There's a THIRD period??: For those of you too young, or too new to the bandwagon to remember, there was a time, believe it or not, when a Senators fan could routinely wager his or her own children on the outcome of a game in which our boys were leading after two periods and not fear for the outcome. Yeah...those were good times. I wonder what happened?
  

• Oh yeah! That's what happened! Our goalie is on a vicodin high!: Quick question for you, Pastry. Have you ever watched game tape of yourself? Really? You have? Wow. That surprises me, and I'll tell you why. Because...you keep...making...the SAME FUCKING MISTAKE over and over again!! Here's a hint: A physical body will remain at rest, or continue to move at a constant velocity, unless an external net force acts upon it. It's called Newton's first law of physics. Please muse upon it the next time you find yourself sliding to the faceoff dot as you admire your initial stop. Fix that, and then we'll see about doing something about your love of dropping into the butterfly too early as you did on the tying goal.

Creamy Middle:

Well, we managed to get the second point out of a game we tried to give away. Again. I have to admit, after a first period where we hit everything and shot from everywhere and generally made Buffalo our bitch, a bit of hubris set in. When Donovan scored a minute and a bit into the second, I said to myself, "That's it. No way we lose this game." And we didn't. But that's not to say that we deserved it.

Up Next:

The Big Red Machine that are the Detroit Red Wings come to the Bank for the first time in four years. While Coach P's desperate search for a legitimate money goalie continues, Emery gets the start against Ottawa's favourite head case, and we fans look back on those heady days when our opponents were known as the Dead Things. On the upside, getting our asses handed to us might finally wake somebody up to the fact that we have many, many problems to straighten out before April. I'm looking at you Bryan.


Behind Enemy Lines: Behind the Jersey is your source for all of your Red Wing-y needs. Brilliantly written, they've also managed to remain surprisingly humble considering the Wings record. I like that. Maybe I should try that for a little while.