Michalek took the opening goal. (Photo: Dinur Blum/flickr)

Just when the playoff tides seem to be flowing in the Ottawa Senators’ favor, the Pittsburgh Penguins swept the carpet out from under the team’s skates in Game Four. Throw in a couple of miscalled penalties and there you have a game fit for the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

The Senators seemed to be carrying the momentum from their last win into Game Four with a beaut of a short-handed goal by Ottawa’s Milan Michalek just » Continue reading “Senators Fall To Penguins 7-3, Face Friday Elimination”

The Ottawa Senators really should petition to have all of their playoff games at home. Or at least those games played against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Then again, maybe it was the reappearance of Senators forward Jason Spezza that fired up the Sens to play a better game. Either way, the Senators put on a show tonight with a double overtime thriller! » Continue reading “Double OT Thriller In Ottawa: Sens Beat Pens 2-1″

Game Two of Round Two is in the bag for the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburg Penguins, though not in a way that the Senators appreciate. The Penguins on the other hand, well, nothing says success like a hat trick am I right?

On the bright side, Ottawa came close to taking the Penguins to a guaranteed game five, pushing for the goals to end the game only one goal down, 4-3. The Senators even managed to get the last word in!

The first period kicked off with, of course, a goal from » Continue reading “A Hat Trick For Crosby And No Win Yet For Ottawa”

Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr

Game One of the Ottawa Senators versus the Pittsburgh Penguins is in the bag folks! And boy was it a dozy for the Ottawa Senators. Despite power play opportunities galore, the Senators just could not make the magic happen in the 4-1 loss tonight.

In spite of Pittsburgh taking the first goal less than three minutes into the first period (thanks to Paul Martin on the power play), Ottawa still managed to rally and tie up the game just before the five minute mark with a wrister from Colin Greening.

Of course this would never stop the Penguins’s Evengi Malkin from tallying at least one goal as he took back the lead at 12:15 of the first.

A high point for the Senators in the first period definitely had to do with overall play from both teams. The Penguins did not launch an all-out attack force per what is expected. On the other hand, the Senators remained quite stately, keeping their defense up and pushing for the net.

The second period is where it really started to go downhill for Ottawa. Generally decent play, but not hard enough to produce points and not enough to keep the killer Penguin power play out of the net in the last two minutes of play. Chris Kunitz managed to get a wrist shot right past Anderson for the goal. » Continue reading “Senators Drop Game One, Penguins Take Early Series Lead”

Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr

And that’s the series folks! The Ottawa Senators put the beat down on the Montreal Canadiens tonight in a massive 6-1 win to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs! With injuries and power play goals at the center of the night, it comes as little surprise that the Senators pushed their way to a win.

The first period started out looking like a Montreal game » Continue reading “Senators Take Series In Five”

Turris stuns Montreal with overtime goal.

The Montreal Canadiens may have struck early, but the Ottawa Senators made it three strikes late in the game to get the Canadiens out. Now the Senators are up 3-1 in the series and will look for one more win in Montreal later this week to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The first period saw the Canadiens come out strong and looking for » Continue reading “Senators Looks To Advance Thursday After Overtime Stunner”

The Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens series has officially disproved the sentiment “Canadians are all polite”. Seven goals and a few fights later it turns out that the Senators and the Canadiens would rather have a Sunday night smackdown than a hockey game. So I guess you could say that their version of polite is to wait to score until the clock starts.

The first period kicked off with three penalties, one for » Continue reading “Hockey Or Sunday Night Smackdown? Sens Pummel Habs 6-1″

Michalek tallied the Sens only goal. (Photo: Dinur Blum/flickr)

If the Ottawa Senators pulled the wool over the Montreal Canadiens last night, the Canadiens pulled the ice out from under the Senators tonight. The Senators just could not get their skates under them, leaving the game open for Montreal to take.

Montreal dominated right from the first period, putting nearly twice the shots on goal than the Senators. It was the second period where Montreal showed even more so that they were not to be trifled with. » Continue reading “A Tooth For A Tooth: Habs Tie Series With Senators”

During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Aerys NHL writers have been revealing their picks for the NHL award categories. You can find the previous prognostics over on the side bar.

The Frank J. Selke award is given to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association at the end of the regular season.

At long last Patrice Bergeron became the 2012 recipient of the award. He became the first Boston Bruins player to win the award since 1982.  Loking back at last years prognostics, once again the women of Aerys were spot on.

To quote Ms. Liz Porterfield, “Selke winners are an elite group of penalty killers, faceoff winners, goal scorers, shot blockers and all-around badasses.” Each year there are three nominations that are announced and our job is to give you the three defensive-forwards we feel are most deserving. As you can see, most of the time, we are spot on.

This years nominations:

Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)

Patrice Bergeron, entering his ninth NHL season is and always has been one of the most consistent two-way forwards on the ice. His strength defensively is one of the key reasons they were able to qualify for the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. There is no question the forwards perfection in the face off circle has been one of his biggest assets to Claude Julien in his tenure, winning 66.8% of the 419 he faced this season.

Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)

On the East Coast you don’t hear much about this guy, especially in the shortened season and you certainly don’t hear his name as often as Ovechkin, Crosby or Malkin. However, Pavel Datsyuk is one of the most gifted and talented forwards in the league. He is best known for his ‘filthy’ stick moves and puck control that can make his opponent look silly. He may not be a large, heavy-hitter on the defensive end, but his ability to swoop in and break up the opponent’s offensive play and transition into a play for his own is what has him earning another nomination.

David Backes (St. Louis Blues)

David Backes is arguably one of the most underrated players in the entire league. However, he’s one of the most strong defensive forwards to ever enter the game.  He was a finalist last season for the award and is expected to be once more this season. Unlike the other two competitors, Backes isn’t afraid to use the body. He ranks 7th overall for hits this season with 158 in 48 games, helping to be a key factor in the teams’ penalty killing unit.

Each and every one of these players deserves to be the winner of the Frank J. Selke award in their own way, and oddly enough these three players are the same top three from last season. It goes without saying that they are the best of the best at what they do every night, but the most deserving once again is Patrice Bergeron.  Bergeron once again sits among the league’s top faceoff winners and contributes 115% in every game  he suits up for. He missed a few games this season due to a mild concussion, but hasn’t let that get in the way of his game.

During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Aerys NHL writers have been revealing their picks for the NHL award categories. You can find the previous prognostics over on the side bar.

The Ted Lindsay Award, formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, is the only one that the players get to decide. The award, meant to be a companion to the Hart Trophy, is given to the NHL’s most outstanding regular-season player as decided by the NHLPA.

Last season, Evgeni Malkin was the recipient of this award, another prognostication that was correct in our book, cha-ching! (Who says females don’t know what they’re talking about!?)

Past winners have included Wayne Gretzky (of course), Mario Lemieux (again, obvious), Eric Lindros, Joe Sakic, Jaromir Jagr, and both Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Daniel Sedin.

This season, there are a number of players that could take home this award, given their significant strengths with the shortened season. It seems the shortened time frame was quite beneficial to some players. Here are this season’s nominations from the Aerys network:

Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning)  

Martin St. Louis is nothing short of greatness and he has been showing his offensive prowess and depth for a few years now. He continually proves how great he is since joining the NHL undrafted and becoming the oldest recipient of the Art Ross Trophy, given to the player who finishes a season with the most points overall in the league, besting players like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and teammate Steven Stamkos.

Along with being among the top elite forwards in the league, St. Louis is ranked first in assists this season as well with 43, two more than Sidney Crosby who has been sidelined since March 30. Honestly, is there really an individual (aside from Crosby) that can be classified as better than St. Louis this season?

Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)

Alex Ovechkin started off this season with a rough patch, trying to find his way under the leadership of new coach Adam Oates. However, the Russian superstar found his game in the nick of time, exploding through the second half of this season.

Ovechkin has soared to third overall in the league and solely stands alone for goals scored this season with 32.  His presence on the Capitals power play has been the driving force in getting his team to the postseason, and what helped rank them at #1 for their man-advantage skills.

Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Steven Stamkos tends to fly under the radar a lot. He isn’t as ‘showy’ as Alex Ovechkin and doesn’t have as much of a history as veteran teammate Martin St. Louis, but he’s just as great if not better.

Last season Stamkos became the sixth player in NHL history to record more than one 50-goal season before the age of 23. Over the past few seasons he has developed rapidly, registering 45 goals in his rookie season and 50+ in the following two. This season, he was able to post 29 goals and a total of 57 points overall, ranking him second in both categories. Oddly enough the forward hasn’t won this award yet, but should be in the running for contention this season.

Choosing from the following list, the assumption would be that Alex Ovechkin became the most outstanding player, earning him his second Ted Lindsay Award of his career. Ovechkin has always been a powerhouse on the ice and his presence helped push his team into the playoffs, a feat that the two Lightning players couldn’t accomplish.