GAME DAY: Buffalo Sabres @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm EST - Sat. Nov. 20th, 2009: Sens win 5-3 PLUS post game thoughts

The Ottawa Senators (10-6-3, 23 points, 2nd in the Northeast) host their divisional rival Buffalo Sabres (12-5-1, 25 points, 1st in the Northeast) on Saturday night at Scotiabank Place in Kanata. The Sens are coming off a dominating win over the injury depleted Penguins on Thursday night that saw them tally 6 goals with two coming from BigRig. Kelly also tallied his first of the year, and it was on a breakaway to boot. Very encouraging and it looks like the Sens are building on the momentum they picked up in the Leafs win. Hopefully this will continue and it would be nice to see Spezza light up the Sabres and get his mojo going again. The Sabres have had a nice start to the season but have seen a few losses pile up recently. They will be coming off a game against Boson on Friday night, so hopefully the Sens can use this to their advantage and continue their pressure play like they did vs the Penguins. I expect Leclaire to get another start and Lalime could get the start for the Sabres if Miller plays Friday night against Boston.

As we approach the quarter mark of the NHL season, the Sens find themselves sitting in 6th spot in the East. This is pretty much were most had predicted. A 5-8 spot was on the horizon in the eyes of most Sens fans based on what assets we had and the expected performance. Will it continue? Can we keep this pace up? Only time will tell...

Game Coverage:
- TV: CBC, MSG-B and NHL CI
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: Live on CBCSports.ca channel #1; http://www.atdhe.net/; http://www.justin.tv/

Latest Updates:
- Lalime goes for the Sabres
- Clouston: Leclaire starts in net for the Sens.
- Clouston:Donovan has MCL/ACL damage in right knee. Will rehab 6-8 weeks and then test his knee to see if more is needed.
- Kovalev to miss at least one game as he returns to Russia for a family funeral.

Team Lineups:
Ottawa Senators: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup
Buffalo Sabres: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/buffalo-sabres-team-lineup

TSN's Ice Chips:

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

Ottawa Senators:

Sens forward Shean Donovan suffered a right knee injury in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it could be some time before he see's ice time again. ''We'll know more after further tests today, but he will be out for a long time,'' head coach Cory Clouston said Friday.- TSN

Friday's practice lines:

Forwards:
Michalek - Spezza
Foligno - Fisher - Shannon
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
Cheechoo - Regin - Winchester

Projected lines vs the Sabres:

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

Defencemen:
Phillips - Lee
Campoli - Kuba
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Leclaire
Elliott

Absent:
- Kovalev (personal reasons)

Injuries:
- Volchenkov (dislocated right elbow, on injured reserve)
- Donovan (knee, unknown how long he'll be out)

Buffalo Sabres:

Tim Connolly and Derek Roy did not participate at practice on Thursday. Connolly was on a rest day, while Roy's absence was injury-related. Winger Mike Grier will likely miss tonight's game against the Bruins. It will be his third consecutive game missed due to injury. - Buffalo News

Projected Lines vs the Sens:

Forwards:
Vanek - Connoly - Stafford
MacArthur - Roy - Pominville
Hecht - Kennedy - Kaleta
Ellis - Gaustad - Mair

Defencemen:
Tallinder - Myers
Butler - Rivet
Lydman - Montador

Goaltenders:
Miller
Lalime

Injuries:
- Toni Lydman (goinn, on IR)
- Derek Roy (left leg, questionable for Friday's game vs Boston)
- Mike Grier (strained groin, doubtful for Friday's game vs Boston)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020316

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020316

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091121/Buf@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291121014

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Note: stats are from before Buffalo's game on Friday night.

Media Links:
- Clouston post-practice presser from Friday (MP3): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091120_Clouston.mp3
- SensTV - A day in the life of Nick Foligno: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=769&id=52067
- SensTV On-line: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

Spread the word!

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

GO SENS GO!!!

Thanks Shabbs, great as always!

Have a good feeling about this one, always seem to bring our "A" game against these guys.

^ It is true, we always do. Feel similar about this one than I did last night's we always seem to play well against these teams.

Can we burst Miller's bubble though? He's been playing stellar hockey of late. We shall see!

GO Sens!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooh...maybe I should have read it first. Lalime! That would be fun! Bring it onnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!

All signs are pointing towards Miller starting for Buffalo tonight... so the chances are likely that we'll see Lalime tomorrow.

Should be interesting.

Light that mother Diddler up like a xmas tree.

Just once I would like to see them try Fisher-Spezza-Alfredsson as the 1st line. With Kovalev out, this would be the time to do it.

With Kovalev out it's more likely that the FFS line will be reunited. Fisher's been our best center recently, including winning a respectable percentage of his face-offs. If you recall, I'm the President of the "Move Fish to Wing" club, so I don't say the above lightly.

I also hope that they play Miller back-to-back and we still light him up.

But i'm fine with either goalie. With no Kovalev in the lineup maybe Spezza will be given the "nigh off" from defensive responsibilities. Time for a hat-trick.

So, word 'round the 'net is that Miller will play back to back games and we'll see him tomorrow night.

shabbs wrote:So, word 'round the 'net is that Miller will play back to back games and we'll see him tomorrow night.

Better that way. Miller is who they'd have to face down the stretch. If they want a shot at the division lead they need the two points here.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:So, word 'round the 'net is that Miller will play back to back games and we'll see him tomorrow night.

Better that way. Miller is who they'd have to face down the stretch. If they want a shot at the division lead they need the two points here.

And it'll be the 2nd half of a back to back.

Well that never hurts With Kovalev and Donovan out (and with Campoli and Shannon still in ) we need all the help we can get. Let's face it, the Penguins team we faced last night was a little bit injured. And Crosby hasn't been very good this year. Too much Olympic Torching.

Speaking of which, does Crosby, given the way he is playing, deserve a spot on that team? Forget that he is the "Face of the NHL" and his history with international competition. Does he deserve one of the top-two center spots? Fisher's making a case for the third line, for sure.

GO SENS GO!!!

So, no comments on my question regarding Sid? I'm actually fairly serious. At what point do you stop pointing at past contributions and check his season-to-date? And speaking of past contribution, it's actually pretty slim at the senior international level -- to borrow from Neely, he hasn't won anything (a 0-5 loss in the Bronze Medal game).

Well, let's get real here, how many guys are evaluated solely on their current seasonal performance only? Certain players will get a free ride, like Sid, because they know he'll step it up when it matters, under pressure etc...

Is there an open practice this morning?