I have to admit, I had my doubts. After the lackluster win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, I wasn;t sure that the Sens were up to facing the rompin' stompin' Capitals. It was a game of offense and I doubted the Sens could measure up. They did in spades.



From Jason Spezza's first laser-guided shot to open the scoring, you knew the Sens were taking it to the Cpas and forcing them on the defense, the only way to win against Washington these days. They're just too damn good. I'd literally scoffed at the Montreal Canadiens last night for blowing a 3 goal lead, and watched the Sens take a two goal lead no less than three times, only to see it eroded and sometimes erased.

High kudos to Anton Volchenkov who kept olympic teammate Alex Ovechkin off the scoresheet by blocking shot after shot. Definitely my MVP for the game. Points also to Alex Kovalev who had something to prove I think when he was left off the Russian squad for the Games. His contribution was excellent as well. Jason Spezza was another monster as he collected three points, all in the first period.

On the defense, Ottawa was up to snuff most fo the time. The Caps danced around them a couple of times, but hell, that's what the Caps do best, make your D look flat-footed. It was good to see Chris Phillips back to form after a disappointing game against Calgary, and with a goal to boot.. Alexandre Picard had his first creditable game since Erik Karlsson was put on the injured list. I especially appreciated Picard's work against Ovechkin after the latter had slasshed his stick away from him, and his pass that sent Spezza on a breakaway.

Note to Jonathan Cheechoo and Jesse Winchester: shoot the effing puck!! Both had golden opportunities to put the puck on the net and went for the extra pass that was either blocked in Cheechoo's case, or resulted in a serious scoring chance at the other end of the ice in Winchester's case.

Finally, this game won't do anything for either Brian Elliott's or Varlamov's stats. But at least, in Elliott's case, it;s a marker in the wins column.