Sens vs Sabres - Who's up for Round Two??!!

The Sens will face Buffalo in round 2 of the playoffs, likely starting Friday night. Hopefully the third time's the charm. These two clubs have met twice before in the playoffs, with the Sabres winning both series. Ironically, like their first meeting, Dominik Hasek's crotch is part of this story line. In '97, he was injured half way through the series, leaving Steve Shields to tend the store. This year it's a new team, new shopkeeper (Ray Emery) but pretty much the same story.

Here's how the two previous playoff series played out.

1997 - #2 Buffalo Sabres vs. #7 Ottawa Senators

Game 1 - Buffalo 3, Ottawa 1
Game 2 - Ottawa 3, Buffalo 1
Game 3 - Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2
Game 4 - Ottawa 1, Buffalo 0 (OT)
Game 5 - Ottawa 4, Buffalo 1
Game 6 - Buffalo 3, Ottawa 0
Game 7 - Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2 (OT)

1999 - #2 Ottawa Senators vs. #7 Buffalo Sabres

Game 1 - Buffalo 2, Ottawa 1
Game 2 - Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2 (2OT)
Game 3 - Buffalo 3, Ottawa 0
Game 4 - Buffalo 4, Ottawa 3

The Sens went 5-1-2 against Buffalo this year but saved their worst for last. As in indicator of how Buffalo improved as the year went on, the Sabres won the finale on
April 5th, 6-2. The Associated Press game story read like this:

Ray Emery started the game in goal, but was pulled after allowing four goals on 22 shots. Mike Morrison allowed the other two goals. "Ray looked a little shaky on some, but no one (was playing that well)," said Sens' coach Bryan Murray. "We weren't playing the game the way we're supposed to to win the game."

Buffalo finished just 3 points behind the Sens so don't be fooled by the disparity in the seedings. This will be a great series. Ottawa has better forwards, defencemen and special teams. Buffalo's Ryan Miller is the equalizer. He's a better goalie than Ray Emery and miles better than John Grahame or Sean Burke. See the rosters for yourself.

Ottawa Forwards
Dany Heatley
Martin Havlat
Peter Schaefer
Antoine Vermette

Jason Spezza
Mike Fisher
Chris Kelly
Bryan Smolinski

Daniel Alfredsson
Patrick Eaves
Vaclav Varada
Brian McGrattan

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara
Anton Volchenkov
Andrej Meszaros
Brian Pothier
Wade Redden
Christoph Schubert

Goalies
Ray Emery
Michael Morrison

Buffalo Forwards
Taylor Pyatt
Thomas Vanek
Andrew Peters
Jason Pominville

Tim Connolly
Daniel Briere
Derek Roy
Chris Drury

Maxim Afinogenov
Ales Kotalik
Mike Grier
J.P. Dumont

Defensemen
Toni Lydman
Henrik Tallinder
Jay McKee
Brian Campbell
Rory Fitzpatrick
Dmitri Kalinin

Goalies
Ryan Miller
Martin Biron

Finally, some deranged predictions:

Despite the fact that 5 of the top 7 NHL Playoff scoring leaders will play in this series, it will be lower scoring than you think. The goaltending and defence will shine.
Dominik Hasek will play at some point.
Daniel Alfredsson will be reunited with Spezza and Heatley.
Sens win again in five.

Habs' Lack of Leadership?

Tough series for the Habs. I keep hearing today about how they suffered from a lack of leadership after losing Saku Koivu. No one stepped up, they say. By that, I assume they mean no one scored. 5 goals in the last 4 games? Not good. But it doesn’t equate to a lack of leadership.

Sometimes you play great but face a hot goalie and lose. Simple as that. Leadership can only be questioned when you see a lack of effort, getting outmuscled or not paying the price. You cannot accuse the Habs of any of that. Their lack of finish had nothing to do with leadership. It was Carolina's, um, Camwardership.

Detroit is out too. No one blames the Wings’ loss on a lack of leadership. Sometimes you just lose. Let’s not overcomplicate things.

Name that Senator Solution - Wed

For those who missed the Name that Senator contest this morning, here are the clues and the solution...

As a kid he idolized Guy Lafleur.
He took the NCAA route to the NHL.
He played for Team Canada.
He debuted in the NHL with the NY Rangers.
In his final season, he led Houston to the IHL title.
He also played for the Rangers, Whalers, Oilers, Penguins, Jets and Coyotes.
He led the year one Sens in scoring.

The answer: Norm Maciver. Be listening tomorrow morning for another chance to win tickets to Game 1 between the Sens and Sabres, likely this Friday night.