GAME DAY: Nashville Predators @ Ottawa Senators - 7:30pm ET - Thu. Oct. 22nd, 2009

The Ottawa Senators (5-2-0, 10 points, 2nd in the North East) host the Nashville Predators (2-5-1, 5 points, last in the Central). It seems like forever since the Sens last played hockey. 4 days off in between games can seem like a long time to a hungry Sens fan. The Sens are off to a great start to the 2009/10 NHL season and are looking to build on the momentum from an emotional win over the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal last Saturday. The Sens rewarded Matt Carkner's hard work and effort with a 2-year extension. His smart play and toughness has been a very welcome addition to the Sens blue line. The Sens continue to improve their play every game with the PK working very well of late and the PP starting to show signs of life. The Preds are a team that has struggled to find wins and get pucks in nets. Nashville has the worst rated goals for average in the NHL. The Preds will be coming off a Wed. night game against the Boston Bruins and will be missing energy players Jordin Tootoo and Jason Arnott. This may be a good chance for Elliott to get another start. The Preds have back-to-back games and we may see Rinne in net for the Preds if Ellis gets the start on Wed. night.

Game Coverage:
- TV: SNET-E (HD), FS-TN (Fox Sports Tennessee)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: NHL Gamecenter Live, http://www.atdhe.net/

Updates from Clouston today: Leclaire goes tonight, Regin in for Donovan, Spezza plays tonight he's fine.

TSN's Ice Chips:

Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11009

Ottawa Senators:

The team signed forward Matt Carkner to a two-year/$1.4 million contract on Tuesday. - TSN

Jason Spezza left practice early on Wednesday to nurse what head coach Cory Clouston describes as "bumps and bruises". According to Clouston, Spezza has been bothered by nagging injuries throughout this early season. He is probable for Thursday's game against Nashville. - TSN

Rookie Peter Regin is also probable for Thursday's game. He has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury. - TSN

Clouston says that he has no idea when D Filip Kuba will return to the line-up. He has an injury in the hip/back/groin region and hasn't played since the first game of the season. - TSN

Wednesday's Practice Lines

Forwards:
Kovalev - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - Spezza - Cheechoo
Foligno - Regin - Neil/Winchester
Ruutu - Kelly - Donovan/Shannon

Defencemen:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Campoli - Karlsson
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Leclaire
Elliott

Injuries:
Winchester (knee, on injured reserve, expected to play Saturday), Regin (upper body, expected to play Saturday), Kuba (lower body).

Nashville Predators

The Predators signed defenceman Ryan Ellis, the club's first choice (11th overall) in the 2009 Entry Draft, to a three-year entry-level contract on Monday. Ellis attended Predators Training Camp in September, and appeared in one preseason game. - Media Release

Jason Arnott, the team captain and leading goal scorer, was placed on injured reserve on Monday with a left shoulder/arm injury and will be out one to two weeks. D Dan Hamhuis (upper body) missed the Capitals game and did not complete practice Monday. F Jordin Tootoo (quad) remains on injured reserve and will not make the trip to Boston. - Nashville Tennessean

Probably lines agasint the Sens:

Forwards:
Sullivan - O'Reilly - Dumont
Erat - Legwand - Ward
Scatchard - Wilson - Hörnqvist
Jones - Goc - Smithson

Defencemen:
Bouillon - Weber
Suter - Klein
Sulzer - Franson

Goaltenders:
Rinne
Ellis

Injuries:
Jordin Tootoo (hip flexor/quadriceps, on IR); Dan Hamuis (upper body, questionable); Jason Arnott (left arm, on IR)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020122

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020122

Ottawa Citizen Game Day Preview:

Source: http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/hockeycapital/archive/2009/10/22/gameday-preview-predators-at-senators-on-oct-22-2009.aspx

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091022/Nsh@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291022014

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Media Links:
- Game notes for tonight (PDF file): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/PDFs/091022-Ott-Nsh.pdf
- Clouston post-practice presser from Thu. Oct. 22nd (audio only): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091022_Clouston.mp3
- Clouston post-practice presser from Wed. Oct. 21st (audio only): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091021_Clouston.mp3
- Clouston post-practice presser from Tue. Oct. 20th (audio only): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091020_Clouston.mp3
- Murray talks about the Carkner extension (audio only): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091020_Murray.mp3
- Murray in a media scrum regarding the Carkner extension (audio only): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091020_Murray-scrum.mp3
- SensTV Profile on Chris Neil: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?id=49241
- SensTV On-line: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

Last Game: @ Montreal Canadiens
- Date: Sat. Oct. 17th, 2009 @ Bell Centre in Montreal
- Score: Senators: 3 - Canadiens: 1
- Recap: http://senators.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009020095
- Boxscore: http://senators.nhl.com/club/boxscore.htm?id=2009020095
- Game Summary: http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS020095.HTM
- Video: http://senators.nhl.com/club/gamevideo.htm?id=2009020095

Noteable Senators articles

Ottawa Sun:
Give Sens real nicknames: http://www.ottawasun.com/news/columnists/earl_mcrae/2009/10/20/11467776.html

Ottawa Sun:
Dream come true for Carkner: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/20/11468661.html

Ottawa Sun:
A real D-lemma: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/21/11470036-sun.html

Ottawa Sun:
Lineup decisions to make: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/20/11466826.html

Ottawa Sun:
Spezza rises to Sens' defence: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/19/11455306.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Spezza banged up but should play Thursday: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Spezza+banged+should+play+Thursday/2128285/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Sens back in playoff style: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Sens+back+playoff+style/2126469/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Wait worth it for Carkner: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Wait+worth+Carkner/2126468/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Shannon might take a seat: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Shannon+might+take+seat/2126475/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Senators ink Carkner to two-year extension: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Senators+Carkner+year+extension/2124136/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Regin almost ready: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Regin+almost+ready/2123927/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
No worries, mate: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/worries+mate/2122358/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Scoring with the new math: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Scoring+with+math/2122371/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Young fans pump up the volume: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Young+fans+pump+volume/2122373/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Sens' Zubov off to Russia: http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/hockeycapital/archive/2009/10/21/zubov-off-to-russia.aspx

OttawaSenators.com
Nagging injury slowing Spezza down: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502973

OttawaSenators.com
Philips impact player on the ice and off: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502944

OttawaSenators.com
Carkner at home with the Sens: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502825

OttawaSenators.com
Sens sign Carkner to 2-year extension: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502809

OttawaSenators.com
Regin itching to make return: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502724

OttawaSenators.com
Less than 1,500 tickets left for Preds game: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502995

Noteable Predators articles:

NashvillePredators.com
Preds call up Scratchard and Sulzer: http://predators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502753

NashvillePredators.com
Preds sign first round pick Ryan Ellis: http://predators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502670

Spread the word!

Follow GMHockey on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gmhockey

GO SENS GO!!!

I'll add the game preview links when they're up. Let's get this party started! Feels like it's been so long!

GO SENS GO!!!

Almost game on time! Meanwhile, the Preds are giving Boston all they can handle tonight, so...

doesn't look like the sens will get much time to work on the power play and lets hope playing (currently beating) the bruins take a bit out of them for tomorrow

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:doesn't look like the sens will get much time to work on the power play and lets hope playing (currently beating) the bruins take a bit out of them for tomorrow

What? Did I miss a diddling goal?

No I did not...

SpezDispenser wrote:No I did not...

missed that the bruins had tied up the game

still hope the bruin take as much out of the preds as possible

Hockeyhero22000 wrote:
missed that the bruins had tied up the game

still hope the bruin take as much out of the preds as possible

The Preds look better, can you believe that? Wow...they look hungrier and more structured (which means they'll probably lose somehow).

im watching the game and I wouldnt say the Preds look that much better, Boston just looks really flat. They are slowly getting it together but I have a feeling their major injuries are going to really impact them. Our Sens should easilly roll the Preds tomorrow assumig we dont lay a stinker after an emotional win and significant layoff. 3-1 Sens

It says (first post) "Kuba is expected to miss Saturday's game against Montreal."

Is that a left over from last week or did they just get the opponent wrong?

Shabbs, what a great summary! If I was working for TSN or Sportsnet, I wouldn't even bother trying to do a game preview, just post a link to this site.

Fantastic job!

No excuse for Ottawa to lose this game tomorrow night! After that game vs Boston, Nashville should be easy pickings. 4-0 Sens win.

wprager wrote:It says (first post) "Kuba is expected to miss Saturday's game against Montreal."

Is that a left over from last week or did they just get the opponent wrong?

Yeah, left over. Cleaned up now.

Cheechoo pops his first tomorrow, calling my (his) shot. Stuffs in a rebound at the side of the net, puck wont travel more than 5 feet.

N4L wrote:Cheechoo pops his first tomorrow, calling my (his) shot. Stuffs in a rebound at the side of the net, puck wont travel more than 5 feet.

love it.

hope you're right.
i hope it's a good one unfortunetely i have to miss it good thing for PVR so i can watch it later.