Sometimes it doesn't take much. A couple of missed poke checks, or a skipping puck can spell the difference between victory and defeat. And so it was for the Ottawa Senators against the Boston Bruins.

It's not like the Sens didn't try, far from it. Most of the game was tight checking with some great goaltending at both ends. But home ice was no advantage this time. I couldn't believe the way Thomas kept dropping juicy rebounds in front of his cage, only to see the Senators either miss every puck, or miss the net if they got any wood on it at all. Chris Phillips, Alex Kovalev, and Peter Regin all had chanes at yawning nets and could conect the dots.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, a missed poke by Erik Karlsson and another by goalie Brian Elliott was all that was needed for the Bruins to put two up on the board. Mind you, on the second goal, our favourtie whipping boy Alex Picard was out of position and got neatly side-stepped... again. This is so trying...

It did seem the Senators lost steam in the third, as if they'd left pretty much all they had on thie ice in the first two periods. Boston never had better chances than in the third , and they capitalized big time. Daniel Alfredsson was noticeably slower, perhaps he is playing with an unreported injury?

A netminder other han Tim Thomas would have relinquished some goals, but he stynied eberything the Sens threw at him, and had a force field around the net as well I'll bet. I was nevertheless happy to see the defensive play of the Sens and the attacks they brought to the net. The Sens are playing the Clouston System, and playing it well, especially in theabsence of some pretty big names on the team.