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Sunday, March 19, 2000
Rude welcome for Barrasso
Senators offer little support for new goaltender against relentless Canucks
VANCOUVER -- Tom Barrasso is supposed to be the Senators' saviour.
But last night, he looked more like a sieve.
While nobody is going to finger the Senators' newly-acquired goaltender for all the blame in the club's 6-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place, Barrasso was merely mortal and that's not why he was brought here.
The Senators didn't play well in front of him, but GM Marshall Johnston took a huge gamble at last Tuesday's NHL trade deadline by acquiring Barrasso at the trade deadline and his first start had an ugly finish.
Barrasso, 35, who hasn't played a game since Feb. 11 because of various injuries and the death of his father, didn't look sharp. He allowed six goals on 23 shots and the Senators can only hope it isn't a sign of things to come.
Afterall, it was Barrasso who made the decision to make his first start since Jan. 31 when he informed coach Jacques Martin Friday he was ready to play. But by the time it was over, you had to wonder if it was the right choice.
Say what you want about the number of times the Senators handed the Canucks good scoring chances. But Barrasso just didn't make the big saves and that's why he was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Ron Tugnutt.
Todd Bertuzzi led Vancouver's attack with two goals, while captain Mark Messier, winger Markus Naslund and centre Andrew Cassels all had two-point nights.
Marian Hossa scored Ottawa's only goal.
Surprisingly, Barrasso wasn't pulled by Martin after allowing four goals on 17 shots through the first two periods. But because of his inactivity, he needs the work to try to get the rust out.
It's scary how bad the Senators were -- especially in their own end. The Canucks were allowed to do whatever they wanted, and Ottawa players didn't put up much opposition by trying to get involved physically.
Before the game, Martin talked to the players about cleaning up their act defensively. He hasn't been happy with the number of chances they're giving up and the performance against the Canucks was no different.
If Barrasso lives up to his reputation as being a guy not afraid to speak his mind, he should have a chat with his teammates before Tuesday's game against Atlanta to let them know he's going to need better support than this.
The chances of catching the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Northeast are slipping away with each passing game. The Sens should have been motivated by the fact they could have moved five points behind the Leafs, who were whipped 4-1 last night by the horrid Thrashers.
"We have to be better defensively," said Martin before the game.
Obviously, it didn't work out that way.
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