Nice to see the Sens eke out a win against the Leafs. Man, these are hair-raising games. The Leafs just have a way... I never enjoy them. It's either a Leafs romp/shutout or the Sens barely pull of a win.

It does say a lot about Bingo, and just the system the entire organization currently has in place, that they're as resilient as they are. I still don't expect them to make the playoffs with their injuries. On paper they shouldn't. But you can't help but be charmed by their young guys and how hard they play.

These people coming up and plugging holes in their defense, like Greening said in his post game interview, deserve more credit than they're getting. It's a cast of no-names but their back end is remarkably stable.

The chrome problem here was never solved, huh? That trips me up. I don't think he was hiding the injury. spezza seemed pretty eager when he came back to Ottawa. It sucks. This really should have been the transition year of the captaincy from Aflie to Spezza.

There's no getting around how bad it is. I think Turris is a questionable 2nd line center, and now with everybody targeting him, you wonder where the plays will come from. If there is one silver lining it's the fact that Ottawa is an offensive team from the defense out, i.e., Karlsson. It makes for unlikely heroes. That their offense really isn't generated by the forwards gaining the blue line, but by the passes from their own own blue line and fast break transitions into the other team's zone. You know, Jim O'brien has scored some important goals for this reason. The Sens have a way of finding unlikely heroes because of that mobile defense.

In terms of the contract I am only a little worried about his size because you never know how these things play out over the years. These smallish, fast, puck-moving defensemen are a somewhat new commodity in the NHL. I definitely would have made the deal. Don't get me wrong. But I think there is sort of a gamble based upon one season. I mean, Mike Green.

When it comes to maturity I have no doubts about Karlsson. Isn't he getting married this summer? You could easily argue he's too young to get married, but it goes to show to that he's serious about being an adult. He's from the Aflie school of appreciating how lucky he is.

I was quite poisoned by the game and didn't even watch the last half a minute after the icing call. But I will draw attention to my having said that at least with the Rangers the Sens would have a graceful exit and still draw the highest pick among playoff teams. They will. 15tth overall. In the sober light of hindsight this wasn't a bad season at all.

I love the fact that the Rags and their fans are so rankled by Neil. Yes, watch the right hand, pay no attention to what the left hand is doing. He's under their skin.

I haven't seen a clear replay of the hit since but Ron Maclean deconstructed it in the segment with Cherry after the game. He said the hit wasn't late. 2.5 seconds, not 5.0. Neil didn't leave his feet. But that Neil did make contact with the head, although Boyle was leaning over kinda like Spezza was against Staal. Meanwhile Boyle is significantly taller than Neil. You'd think he'd have to be leading with his head.

Does Condra ever bury those? There have been so many high profile moments this season where Condra had a glorious chance and I don't remember him scoring on any of them. He's the last Senator I want with the game on his stick. The last.

But that's just it, they bought the rights even though they might not be able to show it. TSN obviously would show it if they could. This is why it's coercive. It's the same thing they do on ordinary Saturdays. Buy multiple rights to games(exclusive typically) so other networks can't show other games and then only show them locally, so there's no competition for the flagship broadcast, i.e the Leafs.

I really want to emphasize this point: it's not CBC's duty to show the Bruins(or Sens in the regular season). But they should get out of the way if they aren't going to.

I am really impressed by that win. Not that I have grand expectations about what the Sens will do this year, or that they'll even get by the Rags, but the way they won that playoff game is something I haven't seen from them... well, since the lockout. Maybe ever. They grinded that one out, that's for sure.

And Chris Neil, what can you say? He may be the most all-around useful bottom 6 guy in the league. The epitome of a heart and soul player. He deserves recognition.

You didn't even mention the 5 minute major. The game coulda been over right there. Considering the Sens haven't scored a meaningful goal on Lundqvist. There has to be a better way to send a message.

Meanwhile, I find Bob Cole irrationally annoying to listen to.