"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Some may have a hard time seeing the "best" in last night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. The fact is though that the Sens had luck on their side last night and were given the opportunity to crawl back into the game. And they frittered it away.



"Luck? What luck?" Brian Elliott caught a couple of big breaks in the second period when first Shane Doan, who rarely misses, hit the post, then a little later Robert Lang clanged one on the iron as well after the Sens allowed a 2-on-1 and Elliott was totally out of position and the net wide open. Still not convinced? The Chris Kelly goal was sheer luck; the puck floating up like a tennis lob and somehow arcing perfectly over the head of goalie Bryzgalov.

Coach Cory Clouston must have been banging his head against the boards and resorted to the old last best move: shuffling the lines. And boy, what a shuffle. He sent reinforcements to all his lines trying to make something happen, bouncing Nick Foligno, Daniel Alfredsson, Ryan Shannon... the list goes on!

The bright light was once again the play of the Jonathan Cheechoo, Jarkko Ruutu, and Chris Kelly line. Those three should be set up as an example of what forechecking looks like for the rest of the team. It's hard work, lots of checking, and fighting for "your" puck.

Brian Elliott  was hot and cold. Hot on the glove side, and hot on attempts to go around him. But he was cold on longer shots, playing once again too far back in his crease. He was directly responsible for the Coyotes' third goal, failing to clear the puck from the front of his net, instead dropping it on a Peter Prucha's stick.

The Sens who were so hot and had strung a series of victories in November to establish themselves at the head of their division, are now sitting right above the cuttoff line again, just ahead of the surging Lightning. They go on to Anaheim today to face the 28th ranked Ducks. This is a must-win game for the Senators, who are trying too hard and are losing their pace and their game. A loss in Anaheim will likely mean a long confidence rebuilding hiatus throughout December. A win may yet save their confidence in this crucial December schedule.