It's a bit like farting in an elevator. One of those loud ones. Except 20,000 people are there to share in the vileness. And everyone knows who did it.



Pascal Leclaire was supposed to be Ottawa's saviour, the best goalie we ever had, the solution to our long quest for an elite-class goaltender. This has turned into an embarassing performance that's starting to make Martin Gerber look good. Leclaire's perfomance against the Philadelphia Flyers left him with a .892 save percentage after 13 starts. That's good for 38th in the league, four slots from the very bottom of the standings, just ahead, remarkably, of former Sens goalie Alex Auld.

It's strange to say that Leclaire is great on really tough saves. He is sometimes miraculous in his cross-crease speed, and with the glove. But up close on slap shots, Leclaire has proven remarkably porous. It's not he gets deked, the pucks just seem to go right through him. I feel like checking him for holes.

It's not like the Sens have much choice either. Backup goalie Brian Elliott is not really a great backup option. He sports, remarkably enough, the very same .892 save percentage as Leclaire, and has a higher GAA. I'm surprised that coach Cory Cloustion and GM Bryan Murray still have hair left, they must be tearing them out by the handful.

So it seems that, once again, the slot of number 1 goaltender for the Senators is up for grabs. Brian Elliott could step up and take it with some amazing play, but I'm not sure Elliott is the man to do it. We'll likely see \elliott in nets either tomorrow against the Rangers or next week against Toronto if Leclaire is to get a final shot at redeeming himself. The Sens are facing some really tough competition in the next few games, teams that can send them packing to a spot they'd hoped they'd escaped: the league basement.

Hey Cory, Mike Brodeur's numbers in Bighamton look pretty good. How about giving him a ring? Just in case...