The Ottawa Senators managed to take the play to the Washington Capitals in the last two periods but just couldn’t capitalize on their chances that resulted in a 2-1 loss.

The first period started out a little slow for the team, but a goal in the last 30 seconds by Peter Regin – his first of the season – salvaged the period for the Senators. So when the team appears to play as a better cohesive unit without him in the line-up, it’s only more fuel to the fire of those Gonchar haters out there.

Defenceman Sergei Gonchar took a shot off the leg in the first period and didn’t return for the rest of the game, which makes the fact that the Senators started playing better after that a head-scratcher.

It’s no secret fans have been hard on him this season with some audible boos coming from the crowd when he was introduced at home opener. But his play hasn’t exactly been deserving of anything better.

Tomas Vokoun was the main reason the Capitals held on to their 2-1 lead from the first period, even after the Senators poured on the shots with 12 and 14 in the second and third periods respectively. He made one particular game-saver late in the game after Daniel Alfredsson had a point-blank chance after some nifty passing plays with Jason Spezza.

Erik Karlsson had another one of his “on” games again, logging 27 minutes of ice-time and playing well against the always-threatening Alex Ovechkin. Jared Cowen also had a physical moment with the Great 8 and contained him well along the boards.

Seeing the Senators play well but unable to come out with the win should be another trend fans will see this season. Along with the probably Jekyll and Hyde syndrome that will have them brutal one night and guns a-blazing the next, a loss after a good effort might be even more common.

Sometimes that’s all you can ask for during a rebuild. So Sens fans, do the easy thing and take it!

The Ottawa Senators have so far been relying on determined third period play to keep up with other teams, but it all just caught up with them tonight.

Sporting their heritage jerseys for the first time and looking dapper to boot, that was the only thing that looked remotely good on the ice for the Senators in all 60 minutes of play.

Despite scoring a first period goal and holding a lead for the first time this season, it was a short-lived high as everything fell apart for them after that.

Three minutes after Milan Michalek scored his third goal of the year, fellow Czechmate Milan Hejduk scored to tie and that was the closest the Senators got all night.

The youth of the Avalanche took over with Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog each finishing with a goal and an assists and Ryan O’Reilly notching three assists of his own.

During the Team 1200′s post-game show, former Senator-turned analyst Shean Donovan mentioned how hard it is to pinpoint specific players who had bad games when the team as a whole looked like one giant mess. This game was an example of something all Senators fans should be prepared for this season, which is brutal execution from the back end out.

As good as Erik Karlsson looked in the home opener playing 28 minutes and showing his offensive capabilities, it’s the soft defensive plays or lack thereof that bring him right back to normalcy as a player. When he gets running around in his own end, the puck finds itself in the back of the Senators net more often than not.

And it’s not just a knock on Karlsson as the rest of the defence didn’t look much better. After making an NHL debut that saw him getting better as the game went on, David Rundblad will no doubt be erasing this one from his memory forthwith.

Of course, people are going to look at the score and wonder whether Craig Anderson just decided to check out for the night. But when the players in front of him have only put 13 shots on the opposing goal, it isn’t exactly much if anything for him to work with.

So while this was a disappointing game and effort by the team to say the least, it’s one of those games that everyone just needs to forget about it and move on. There’s no use trying to tell the players what they could have done differently because they know that better than anyone.

Growing pains are tough and may hurt like a you-know-what this season, but that’s exactly why they’re called growing pains in the first place. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, so hold on to those cheesy-but-true sayings and let’s all get through this season together.

The Ottawa Senators are hoping their on-ice play mirrors how good their new heritage jerseys will look tonight.

Debuting the third jersey for the first time this season, the Senators are looking to come out with a .500 record after facing the Colorado Avalanche tonight. They’ll be looking to improve on their 11-21-4 all-time record against the Avalanche.

A few roster changes tonight include Brian Lee and Bobby Butler drawing back into the line-up while Erik Condra and Zenon Konopka come out. Going with seven defenceman, the Senators will have Craig Anderson between the pipes to face his former club for the first time since the trade in February. (Source)

Also worth nothing, Jason Spezza will play tonight after taking a maintenance day from yesterday’s practice.

The Senators announced that Nikita Filatov has been assigned to the Binghamton Senators. With the amount of bodies upfront, it’s better for Filatov to go down to the AHL and play some big minutes. While staying in Ottawa would have been ideal and obviously his goal, his two-way contract makes it an easier move.

In addition to playing in the heritage jerseys for the first time, the Senators have unveiled a historical exhibit on the 200 level in partnership with the City of Ottawa Archives. If you’re anywhere near 209 tonight, go on and take a look!

The Ottawa Senators may have needed a little extra time to get their first win of the season, but there was no better occasion than the home opener to do so and in dramatic fashion to boot.

In similar fashion to the first two games, the Senators found themselves down 3-1 against the Minnesota Wild in the third period but stayed with it after playing a much more aggressive game the whole night. They carried much of the play and directed a lot of shots on Niklas Backstrom, outshooting them a total of 44-27 by the end.

The star of the night for the Senators by far came in the form of dependable hard-nosed veteran Chris Neil, who chipped in with a big goal, an assist and led the way with his physical game. In addition to running Clayton Stoner’s show with a good, hard hit behind the Wild net, he managed to get in the face of former teammate Dany Heatley including knocking him down on a solid backcheck.

“We’ve said it right from opening day of camp that we need our veteran players to be leaders out there and obviously if we’re doing it right, we can demand our young guys to do it right,” said Neil in his post-game media scrum.

“We always want to be in skilled players’ faces,” he continued, after being asked about his run-ins with Heatley. “You bump him off a face-off or whatever you have to do to get under the skin but you have to be disciplined as well … for the most part, we played him hard tonight and we didn’t give him too much opportunity to score.”

Neil’s line with Nick Foligno and Peter Regin proved to be the most effective on the ice as each player helped contribute offensively — Foligno with his first goal of the year and Regin with two assists in his season debut. Along with getting on the scoresheet, Regin showed no signs of discomfort getting banged around after coming off a serious shoulder injury.

Not only was this the first win for the Senators this season but the first for Paul MacLean as a head coach, something that will surely be remembered to coincide with the beginning of the team’s 20th year.

“A win is a win is a win — it’s a Picasso right now, so it feels pretty good,” said MacLean after the game. “I think the team showed great stick-to-itiveness and we did it right all night and were rewarded for it in the end.” (Did Coach MacLean really just make up a new word there? Source)

“As long we’re getting the chances, the puck’s going to go in the net, we just have to make sure we bear down just a little bit more and try not to do too-too much,” he continued. “We want to make sure we’re a team that attacks the net and puts pressure on the opposition’s goaltender to defend his net and I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”

Since this was Heatley’s second return since being traded out of Ottawa, the mood and the hype were both very much toned down from his visit last December but that didn’t stop the boos and the chants from raining down. The first choruses of “Heatley sucks!” came before either team even stepped onto the ice for warm-up, perhaps as just a warm-up in itself.

But for the most part, the fans focused on their team as it should be. It was exciting to see the players–past and present–as well as the staff take part in the red carpet event prior to puck drop. The alumni Senators were also introduced and honoured before the players hit the ice as they were stationed in sections all over the arena.

While the Senators defence has been a little scary in the first two games of the season, they managed to settle down in the home opener. Erik Karlsson has proven once again what an asset he is to the team after playing almost 30 minutes in every situation imaginable. Still at only 21 years of age, it’s clear the team has something very special in this little Swedish defenceman who seems to get the game at every angle.

The Senators now get ready for a visit from the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday when they will debut their heritage jerseys in a game for the first time. As last announced by the Senators Twitter feed, about 1,250 tickets are left available, so if you want to see those gorgeous jerseys in action, get your tickets now!

It’s finally time for Senators fans everywhere to get geared up and enjoy the first home game of the season! With a special ceremony planned to honour alumni from the inaugural 1992-93 team, the red carpet has been rolled out ready to give them the celebrity treatment they deserve.

Beginning at 4:30, former players will be arriving in limousines and will rock the red carpet award show-style. Fans will have the opportunity to take photos and get autographs as they make their way inside. Arrive early to get your front row spot!

As for on-ice changes tonight, Peter Regin and David Rundblad have been confirmed to make their season and career NHL debuts respectively with Nikita Filatov, Bobby Butler and Brian Lee sitting out as healthy scratches. Look for Rundblad to be paired up with the Big Rig himself in Chris Phillips and Craig Anderson to get the start between the pipes.

So get ready to cheer on your team loud and proud, Sens fans, it should be an incredible and very special night for the organization!

The season never truly feels like it has started until you’ve played a game at home.

The Ottawa Senators have opened up their 20th year with a 0-2 record after games against the Detroit Red wings and Toronto Maple Leafs but not without the lack of third period attempts at comebacks. Now they return to the comforts of Scotiabank Place and and their own fans.

The critics will look at the Senators’ record so far and probably wouldn’t even bat an eyelash considering how most of them felt about the team doing any good this year. But to really breakdown their losses means taking into the account the fight they showed when they were down.

The Senators went into the third period of both games with a win far out of reach. They could have easily rolled over and given up but they all dug deep and gutted it out like the professionals that they are. Everyone knows you can’t win a game in a period but they very nearly did it in dramatic fashion.

They gave the Leafs a big scare on Saturday night with goals coming fast and furious in the last six minutes of the game, including Stephane Da Costa’s first career goal, three assists for Erik Karlsson and a new record for two of the fastest goals scored in franchise history (Alfredsson and Spezza in eight seconds.)

If winning one period at a time means eventually winning the game as a whole, then so be it. While it may not result in two points every night, it will provide some pretty entertaining finishes and help keep the excitement on some sort of a high.

According to Steve Lloyd from the Team 1200, Paul MacLean indicated that Peter Regin will make his season debut in tomorrow night’s home opener with the possibility of David Rundblad sliding in as well. Regin is coming off his injury from pre-season and Rundblad has been on press box duties watching from above.

This injection of youth in line-up can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen so far with Sergei Gonchar simply looking nothing less than soft and disinterested. He hasn’t been nearly as agressive or poised as needed and anything else would be a welcome change.

Of course, one of the bigger storylines for tomorrow night’s opener is the return of Ottawa’s most hated man in Dany Heatley. When he was traded to the Minnesota Wild in early July, it was with some kind of twist of fate that the first game of the year at Scotiabank Place would be against them. Along with honouring the last 20 years of the franchise, it was immediately dubbed as Heatley Hate Fest 2.0.

No doubt will there be a collection of boos for whenever No. 15 steps out onto the ice or touches the puck. Whether it will come in as much magnitude as his first return when you could literally feel the volume of the boos is still yet to be seen but it’s certainly not something to put past the Sens Army faithful.

Overall, it should be a very exciting night for the Senators organization as members of the original 1992-1993 team will be on-hand for the opening ceremony and many pre-game activities going on long before puck drop. The earlier you can be at the rink the better, it seems.

Opening their 20th anniversary season in Detroit may have proved to be a rough start for the Ottawa Senators but there are both negative and positive things to take away from the 5-3 loss.

Let’s start with the positives. The line of Jason Spezza flanked by Milan Michalek and Nikita Filatov was easily the best of the night contributing two goals in the third period to get the Senators on the board.

Spezza had a few chances earlier in the game and just couldn’t finish, but he made a great pass to Michalek for his second goal of the night. Additionally, they were the only three players to finish with a plus-one rating on the night.

Another positive to look take into account is the fact that Stephane Da Costa had a strong game considering he was on the ice for two goals against. His first period saw him utilize his active stick and show off his great hand-eye coordination as he got in the way of a few Red Wing passes. He certainly didn’t look out of place.

“I thought Da Costa stepped up and played a good game for his first game in a little while,” said Paul MacLean, who made his return to Detroit as an opponent. “He was on the puck, he did good things with the puck and had a good stick on it.”

As for the negatives, it must be reiterated that there will many frustrating moments with this team over the season and the best thing to do is take things game by game. For most of the first period, the Senators kept up good pace with the Red Wings despite a few breakdowns here and there.

But like it usually goes, one mistake ends up with the puck in the back of your net and that’s exactly what happened on a miscommunicated line change. Todd Bertuzzi was left wide open to go in all alone on Craig Anderson and made no mistake going up high.

More defensive breakdowns turned into an ugly second period and past for the Senators as the Red Wings capitalized on every single mistake and quickly built up a 4-0 lead. Luckily, they had a better third period and can easily carry it over for the next game.

“I think we got a good lesson from a good hockey team on how to play the game at a high speed,” said MacLean after the game. “We were a little bit slow in our transition game and they caught us from behind and made us pay for it.”

Working with such a young team means not getting too high on the highs and equally not as low on the lows. If everyone can find a way to go through the motions of the game but find at least one positive to build off every night, it will help with the potentials of rough games to come.

The Senators now travel to Toronto for the first installment of the Battle of Ontario this season tomorrow night. The game will be broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada at 7 p.m.

Parting shots: The Red Wings began the evening by honouring the memory of Brad McCrimmon with his family in attendance. Sportsnet’s broadcast even showed Vladimir Konstantinov going over to Maureen McCrimmon during the game to offer his condolences. … Da Costa got a taste of some rough play in the third period when he was hit hard along the boards by Dan Clearly. The rookie came out of it with some stitches over his eye but none the worse for wear.

The Binghamton Senators kicked off their own season tonight and raised their Calder Cup champions banner. Former B-Sens players Ryan Potulny, who now plays for the visiting Hershey Bears, was able to be honoured along with the team. Check out this great shot courtesy of the AHL’s Twitter account and JustSports Photography:

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year.

The start of a new hockey season is like a breath of fresh air. Every team has the same hopeful enthusiasm and excitement. Players are itching to hit the ice for the first meaningful game in a few months. And fans are anxiously pulling their jerseys out of their closets and over their heads.

While the Ottawa Senators still have one more sleep to go before they officially kick off their 20th anniversary season, it never hurts to play spectator on the first night to get an early sense of what teams will look like.

In saying that, of course, it’s a long road from now until when playoffs start again. Team identities may change, rosters will shift, coaches will inevitably get fired; that’s just how the hockey cycle rolls. But if you can get an early sense of what your opponents are shaping up to be, it’s certainly help more than hindrance.

The Senators have already been quickly written off by lot of media outlets and predicted to finish last or in the lower ranks of the league. While realistic expectations are key so that fans aren’t constantly ripping hair out of their head or swearing off their allegiances early on, it’s important to focus on some of the positives especially with a young team in hand.

As of right now, there are five members of the reigning Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators on the opening roster for the big club in Bobby Butler, Zack Smith, Colin Greening, Erik Condra and Jared Cowen. They’re all expected to step in and play a big role regardless of where they’re being pencilled in.

The Senators blueline appears to be young, soft and inexperienced but there are still the likes of Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar who will play leadership and mentor roles. Cowen and David Rundblad are looking to squeeze themselves into the logjam of defenders, but the opportunity is there with Matt Carkner out for at least a month following knee surgery.

Cowen appears to be the most NHL-ready between him and Rundblad, but that’s not to say both could improve drastically by the time Carkner is able to return to the line-up. By no means are things set in stone and both are still fighting to keep a job with the big boys.

The hockey pundits and experts are predicting the Senators will struggle to score goals this year as they did last season, so the onus is on Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza to be in top form. Yes, Alfredsson is returning from a back injury but the captain still manages to find a way to put up points.

However, there’s no question about Spezza. With a shiny ‘A’ permanently stuck to his chest, he’s expected to be nothing short of the leader in the offensive category. Luckily, he’s going to have players with plenty of potential to feed off when it comes to putting the puck in the net. It’s just a matter of chemistry and how long it’s going to take for it to develop.

Secondary scoring has always been a huge question mark for the Senators, which is where Nikita Filatov and Stephane Da Costa come into play. Filatov has offensive talent written all over him, but it all comes down to execution in the end. Hopefully with a new change of scenery and playing with someone like Spezza will open the floodgates for him.

Da Costa can be considered a pre-season surprise, scoring a bunch of goals and showing an offensive prowess that surely most people didn’t expect out of him. If he can come in and contribute right away on a nightly basis, the Senators should score more goals than expected out of them.

Of course, players like Nick Foligno and Peter Regin are still on the hook to have better seasons than last. Fingers and toes are crossed that Regin recovers from his recent injury quickly and stays healthy because there’s a lot of untapped potential in him that just hasn’t been given the opportunity to explore.

Foligno just needs to keep his game clean and simple because his skill range doesn’t allow him to rely on being flashy and exciting every single game. If he keeps to his hard-working forecheck game and drives to the net looking for rebounds and garbage goals, he should retain an important role on the team.

And finally, we have the Achilles heel of the Senators, the goaltending. Locking Craig Anderson down to a four-year contract was the first step in solidifying the net. All Anderson has to do now is take his play from the last two months of the season and apply it to the next seven.

There’s doubt he will steal games for the team when the goals don’t come easily but that’s what Ottawa has been looking for essentially since the day they returned to the league. Alex Auld will provide very reliable back-up goaltending and thankfully he’s already experienced what it can be like from the media and fans when the pucks that should be stopped aren’t.

To sum it all up, there are a lot of factors that have to go right for the Senators to even get close to a playoff spot this season. However, the magical word of potential is there for them to prove all those naysayers wrong and surprise them by exceeding expectations, even if that just means winning a handful more games than anyone predicts them to.

Lastly, a message to the Senators faithful: enjoy this anniversary year. We have so much to be excited about with the new heritage jersey, all the special events the organization has planned and of course, the NHL All-Star game. If the team is destined to be what the media says it will be, wading through the bottom pool of the league, then so be it. But that shouldn’t stop all of you from showing them fans in this city do care and are behind this team no matter what. Remember what it was like for this city when we made the Stanley Cup finals in 2007 and harness that energy towards this season. We’re building our way back to that and hopefully, we’ll have a real parade down Elgin Street sooner rather than later.

For Ottawa Senators fans itching to get their hands on the brand new heritage jersey, the wait is over as the team showed off their new merchandise at a fan-oriented event called Puck Drop.

Despite being accidentally outed a few weeks ago due to a mix up in shipping, the Senators easily brushed it off their shoulders and have been met with great excitement and anticipation for these new jerseys that honour the past.

Designed in part by Senators fan Jacob Barrette, the jersey commemorates the rich history of the team that was one of the first dynasties of the 19th century. With the black face colour creating the barber pole effect using red and white stripes, the Senators have gone back to their roots in a beautifully vintage way.

The ‘O’ logo, which was first introduced as a shoulder patch when the new Reebok Edge jerseys were mandated, give the jersey a very old-school feel from the days when they were simply hand-sewn and stitched.

“We were all real impressed,” said Jason Spezza. “It’s a great vintage look and I think they did a great job … They captured the heritage look and put some nice little spins on it with the colours. It gives it that old-school look.”

The heritage jerseys are a great example of a retro design that was modernized and have been a hit with both the players and the fans who have been pulling them off the shelves and over their heads. While the old black alternate jerseys gave them success, the Senators are hoping the heritage ones will carry over that winning spirit.

Over the course of the season, the Senators will wear them 11 times–the same number of Stanley Cups the Senators won in the past–and even have plans to wear them on the road when they visit the Montreal Canadiens in March. The debut of the jersey will take place on Oct. 13 when they take on the visiting Colorado Avalanche.

SPEZZA GETS AN ‘A’ ON HIS CHEST
It may have taken eight years, but Jason Spezza has more than proven what a leader he is for the Ottawa Senators and the team acknowledged it by announcing him as an alternate captain for the upcoming season.

With so many young players coming in, Spezza has taken on a mentor role that has also helped his own game easily illustrated by his offensive output late in the season when call-ups made up a good chunk of the line-up.

“I have to be able to help out other guys when they’re going through a tough time,” he said. “I’ve got experience, too, so that’s what makes it a natural progression. I’ve been through a lot, won a lot of games, lost a lot of games, and had the ups and downs. That’s the stuff you gain as you get older and you can share with younger players.

Chris Neil was the centre attention tonight at the Bell Centre and potted two goals including a late game-winner for a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Garnering boos from the Montreal crowd for almost putting Nathan Beaulieu into the bench, that physical shift from Neil was actually the lightning rod for the Senators. Little did they know, Neil had much more up his sleeve for them to see.

On that same shift with Neil banging multiple bodies, the Senators re-gained puck possession and pulled off a great three-way passing play between Jared Cowen, Stephane Da Costa and Milan Michalek for a goal that made the score 2-1 late in the second period.

They had a sloppy second period overall, which saw Mike Cammalleri bust in for two goals including a breakaway goal that beat Robin Lehner up high.

Coach Paul MacLean was hoping for a solid 60-minute game but they did redeem themselves in the third period where they picked up the pace and urgency to win.

“For the most part, we’re very proud of the way the team responded in the third period,” said MacLean in his post-game media scrum. “We came out with a push and put some pressure on them to defend their net and we were able to win the game.”

Neil’s late third-period goal that ended up being the game winner came off a nice play from Nikita Filatov, who has been given a lot of playing time in this pre-season so far.

“I think we came out a little flat in the second period and they were able to take advantage of it,” said Neil. “But we were able to regroup in the third and obviously capitalize on our chances.”

He admitted that he tried to goad Travis Moen into a fight in the third period to get things going physically but still managed to make his presence known and was an obvious factor to the win in the end.

Milan Michalek, who had a goal and an assist tonight, has been having a solid pre-season so far and most of it has to do with him being healthy. Ridden with an unfortunate string of injuries in the past, he seems to be very comfortable on the ice and very involved with the play in every shift he takes.

Staying healthy will be the number one priority for Michalek this season and if he does that, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be putting up good offensive numbers.

Centremen Mika Zibanejad and Colin Greening were fairly ineffective in the game tonight, but a fair explanation simply comes from a need for some rest. Whether it’s more mental than physical, many of the players looked a little weary today after constantly being on the go this last week.

With tomorrow scheduled as an off-day and a travel day for those heading out to St. John’s, N.L., it will surely be a welcomed albeit short break for everyone.