The Senators are not going to win the Cup this season, nor are they going to get to the final. They are still led offensively by Erik Karlsson, whose 47 points have him way down the league scoring list at 28th. The Senators, who have allowed a sixth-best 146 goals against, rank 21st in goals for with 148. Only four Devils had more than 45 points. New Jersey’s leading scorer was Patrik Elias, whose 57 points was 67th highest in the league. The commitment to protecting the D-zone was intense under coach Pat Burns. That New Jersey team had a Hall of Fame goalie in Martin Brodeur, but on many a night he had a struggle to stay awake. In 2003, White was on a Senators team that was eliminated in the Eastern Conference final by the Devils, who went on to defeat the Ducks to take the Cup. The notion isn’t completely absurd, however. How long can the Senators run before they are stopped? TSN1200’s Todd White got a little carried away on Friday when he said he could see them winning the Stanley Cup the way they’re playing, although he did shuffle back from his bold prediction by adding they wouldn’t be among his top five best bets. The four points they are ahead of the team (New York Islanders) just on the wrong side of the cut line might as well be 14 when you consider the Senators have a game in hand and have not suffered more than two regulation losses in a row all season. Yes, as much as the Senators would like to put some air between themselves and the Maple Leafs on Saturday, only a total collapse would keep them out of the post-season tournament at this stage. A goalie controversy, in fact, is a real possibility down the stretch and into the playoffs. Now with both goalies available, the Senators are comfortable having either between the pipes, especially when neither is being asked to stand on his head. Full-time goalie coach Pierre Groulx deserves credit for his work with Craig Anderson and Mike Condon, but also for talking management into acquiring the latter for a song back in November. This year’s edition is 30-19-6 and four points out of first place in the Atlantic Division thanks largely to Guy Boucher’s defensive game plan. The success of that Senators squad was built around the stifling system deployed by coach Jacques Martin, who only had a part-time goalie coach in Phil Myre. National Capital Region's Top Employers.
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