Rd 1 Gm 1 - Pittsburgh @ Ottawa - 4.11.07

The Balance in the Bank:

Final Score: Ottawa wins 6-3 (Ottawa leads 1-0)
Ottawa Goals: Meszaros, Kelly, Preissing, Heatley, Neil, Comrie
Making Sens: Alfredsson, Phillips, Volchenkov
Lacking Sens: hard to name anyone
It was over when: Heatley comes out 9 seconds into the third to bang in a rebound off Alfie’s tip, giving us a 4-1 lead
It was definitely over when: Baby Crosby’s goal is disallowed 15 seconds later, meaning that we keep momentum and that he is a boy in a man’s game, to quote an old friend.
Message in a Molson bottle: Dominating forecheck and exploiting the weakness between the pipes, we came out flying in this game and never let up until we spent the last 12 minutes or so shorthanded. This wasn’t as close as the score suggests as we most certainly showed experience, grit, finesse, and the ability to win and win big. Saturday gives us an opportunity for our first ever 2-0 series lead. Can you believe that we’ve never led a series 2-0?
Courtesy Boxscore: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/boxscore?gameId=270411014

Grab a Timmy’s double double and listen to what really happened:

Optimistic Ophelia
Areas that we can watch on tape and carry into next game were the outstanding forecheck and consistent pressure. Dumping and chasing will work in this serious simply because Pittsburgh’s only strength is at forward. If we dump it in and hit the balls of their defencemen, we’ll continue to get chances on Fleury. By the way, could you imagine watching this game on Versus in the US and they actually show a highlight clip of his saves at the end of the game? I could have sworn we put an unconverted touchdown past him, but I digress. The forecheck is key in this series and we MUST come out with the exact same intensity on Saturday afternoon as we did tonight.

Pessimistic Patty
Hi, I’m Bill, the guy that works in the Ottawa penalty box, it’s been really nice hanging out with you tonight. We cranked out a cool 10 penalties today and when you consider that a key to the series was to keep the play on the 5-on-5, this math doesn’t add up. I think we’ll learn the lessons from this and get over the opening day jitters to settle down enough and stay out of the box. If not, then we’ll see more of these 9-goal affairs.

Upbeat Ursula
Emery was solid, we hit hard, and didn’t retaliate when their idiots came out in the third to try and start some shite. After 10 years in the playoffs, we can now be seen as an experienced team and it showed tonight. We need to continue on this path.

Debbie Downer
Alfie is snakebit again. He played a hell of a game in terms of effort and creating plays, but he had 8 shots on goal and a ton (tonne) of great scoring chances and either missed the net or was stopped cold. It’s only one game, but how nice would it be for everyone involved if he potted a pair in the first period on Saturday?

Keys to the next game
- Match tonight’s first period intensity and domination
- Continue to control neutral zone
- Keep your sticks on the ice and out of Penguins’ faces