After freaking out a good chunk of their jittery fan base Saturday, the Senators showed all kinds of poise in a 4-2 win in Pittsburgh last night. The Sens fell behind 1-0 in the first minute on a goal by Gary Roberts then stormed back with four unanswered goals to grab a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. Daniel Alfredsson continues to be all-world in the leadership department. He scored twice for the Sens and continues to be excellent in every facet of the game.Some observations from last night.
Don Cherry’s rant was particularly entertaining. He spoke of being accosted by John Muckler. He also spoke at length about the Colby Armstrong hit on Patrick Eaves. It was fascinating to see how much it resembled Armstrong’s hit on Saku Koivu earlier this year. He also calls out some of Ottawa’s defencemen, with good reason. And referenced Chris Neil as a guy who used to be a dummy fighter. Watch Don Cherry here.
Armstrong’s hit was clean but vicious. The NHL certainly needs to start clamping down on blows to the head, even ones that are clean. However, the last person to champion that cause should be Chris Neil. Neil talked about how there would soon be payback because Eaves was hit while in a vulnerable position. The hit was very similar to the one Neil felled Chris Drury with.
It’s great to see that Eaves is only day to day with a concussion. He didn’t move his legs for the longest time and had a lot of Sens fans thinking the worst.
Bob Cole is so completely bored that Toronto isn’t involved in this series. Ray Emery made a terrific glove save in the third period and Cole reacted as if it were a dump in. While I’m picking at the CBC, when the Sens were up 4-1 last night, it was nice to see them give us a full video rundown of the Sens’ 4-1 collapse against Pittsburgh earlier this year. Here I am, the Sens winning handily, I’m relaxed and the CBC yells out, “DON’T RELAX! THEY’VE BLOWN IT BEFORE THEY COULD BLOW IT AGAIN!”
AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
Sidney Crosby is getting harder to like as this series wears on. His constant whining and yapping like a poodle is getting very tired. His series of cross checks on the ribs of Anton Volchenkov while he was grappling with Roberts last night also wasn’t very appealing.
Finally got to see Jungle’s Ford TV ad last night. I thought Jungle did a fine job. Don’t worry. I’ve sent him some tanning gift certificates. Bobby Orr’s Kodiak ad is hilarious too.
