Saturday, March 20, 2004

Senators Lose a valuable point

The Senators know that they were the cause of their own misfortune Saturday night. With Patrick Lalime doing his best to keep his team in the game, it was an effort wasted, as his team didn't take advanage of the opportunities presented to them. The Sens managed to secure one point Saturday, with an Overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricane at the Corel Centre.

Bret Hedican put the cap on the night for the Canes scoring with 56 seconds to go in the extra period. Making amends for an earlier miscue in the second period, when he received a double minor for high sticking Chris Neil. His selfish move put his team in a bind for four minutes. The Sens had held a lead of 2-1 going into the third, despite being outplayed by the Hurricanes for the most part. The game tied up with a disputed goal at the 11 minute mark as Josef Vasicek redirecting the puck past Lalime for the goal.
Most telling story for the Sens tonight was the ineffective power play especially on that four minute man advantage in the second period, one in which they could only put one shot on the net.

While they gained a point for the Overtime tie, in the tightly contested Eastern Conference it may be very important point that they lost. With all the big games they have played in the last couple of weeks and those to come, perhaps they didn’t take the Hurricanes seriously. If so, they should keep in mind that the standings don’t care if you lose to Toronto, Philadelphia or Carolina. A point is a point is a point; each one brings its own importance to the final results at the end of the season.

No comments: