GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Phoenix Coyotes - 10:00pm ET - Sat. Dec. 5th, 2009 PLUS postgame thoughts

The Ottawa Senators (13-9-4, 30 points, 3rd in the Northeast) are past the half way point of their miserable Western road trip and head to Phoenix to visit the Hamilton... err... I mean Phoenix Coyotes (16-11-1, 33 points, 3rd in the Pacific) on Saturday night. The Sens took a beating in LA in a game that was winnable but mental mistakes and some serious lack of effort from certain high paid stars sealed the loss for the Sens who have managed to garner a single point so far after 3 games on this 5 game road trip. Fisher and Michalek continue to impress but where's the rest of the team? We need everyone playing together. Last year Phoenix was the laughing stock of the league, but this season they've been quite impressive and have been raising eyebrows all over the league. The Sens can by no means take any game on this trip lightly, least of all Phoenix with Anaheim in the hopper for Sunday. It would be nice to finish this road trip with a couple of wins but if the past three games are any indication, don't hold your breath. It's nice to have the 6 "D" pairs somewhat set with Karlsson back in the mix with Kuba and Volchenkov back from injury. Hopefully they can start to get in a rhythm and give Elliott some better views of the puck. Unfortunately Picard is listed as doubtful so expect to see Campoli back in the lineup. This will also be a meeting of the Michalek Brothers.

Game Coverage:
- TV: NHL Center Ice (that's it folks!)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: NHL Game Center and check http://www.atdhe.net and http://www.justin.tv

Latest Updates:
- team did not practice today
- Picard is doubtful for Saturday's game

Team Lineups:
Ottawa Senators: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup
Phoenix Coyotes: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/phoenix-coyotes-team-lineup

TSN's Ice Chips:

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

Ottawa Senators:

Picard left Thursday's game with a shoulder injury. His status is doubtful for Saturday's game. We could see Campoli step in if he can't go.

Projected lines vs the Coyotes:

Forwards:
Michalek - Spezza - Alfredsson
Kovalev - Fisher - Shannon
Ruutu - Kelly - Cheechoo
Regin - Winchester - Keller

Defencemen:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Kuba - Karlsson
Campoli? - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Elliott
Brodeur

Injuries:
- Donovan (knee, on IR, out indefinitely)
- Leclaire (broken jaw, out 4 weeks)
- Neil (knee, expected to miss 1-2 weeks)
- Picard (shoulder, questionable for Saturday's game)

Phoenix Coyotes:

D Ed Jovanovski (lower-body injury) and F Peter Mueller (upper-body) skated Tuesday. Their availability for Thursday's game against Calgary has not yet been decided. - Arizona Republic

Projected Lines vs the Sens:

Forwards:
Boedker - Lombardi - Upshall
Prucha - Hanzal - Vrbata
Korpikoski - Lang - Doan
Fiddler - Winnik - Pyatt

Defencemen:
Michalek - Yandle
Vandermeer - Aucoin
Schlemko - Lepisto

Goaltenders:
Bryzgalov
LaBarbera

Injuries:
- Kurt Sauer (headaches, on IR)
- Ed Jovanovski (lower body, questionable for Saturday's game)
- Peter Mueller (upper body, questionable for Saturday's game)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020425

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020425

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091205/Ott@Pho/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291205024

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Media Links:
- Clouston media availability from Friday: http://bit.ly/5SLQiB
- Clouston post game presser from Thursday night: http://bit.ly/91L7hb
- SensTV On-line: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

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GO SENS GO!!!

Can't wait to see these attendance numbers...

shabbs wrote:Can't wait to see these attendance numbers...

Let's see if we can equal the attendance with posts in this thread.

That Phoenix has scored more powerplay goals than we have causes me physical pain. Especially given Doan's having a statistical off-year thus far.

asq2 wrote:That Phoenix has scored more powerplay goals than we have causes me physical pain. Especially given Doan's having a statistical off-year thus far.

The play of some of our top players, the current 6 game road losing streak, the hit and (mostly) miss defensive play of some of our defenders are all valid reasons.

We need to wrap this road trip up with a couple of wins...

Well, that game in Boston would have been nice to win. I didn't think we had much of a chance against the Sharks, and we *always* lose to the Kings for some unknown reason. But this game? This is a team we not only can beat, we *need* to beat. We should be able to sit Spezza, Kovalev, Shannon and Cheechoo and still compete. In fact, if you take away the goals those four have scored, we would e just one goal behind the Desert Dogs with three games in hand. This is a game where defeat is unacceptable.

5-2 Phoenix

wprager wrote:Well, that game in Boston would have been nice to win. I didn't think we had much of a chance against the Sharks, and we *always* lose to the Kings for some unknown reason. But this game? This is a team we not only can beat, we *need* to beat. We should be able to sit Spezza, Kovalev, Shannon and Cheechoo and still compete. In fact, if you take away the goals those four have scored, we would e just one goal behind the Desert Dogs with three games in hand. This is a game where defeat is unacceptable.

That's not saying much to be honest.

PKC wrote:

wprager wrote:Well, that game in Boston would have been nice to win. I didn't think we had much of a chance against the Sharks, and we *always* lose to the Kings for some unknown reason. But this game? This is a team we not only can beat, we *need* to beat. We should be able to sit Spezza, Kovalev, Shannon and Cheechoo and still compete. In fact, if you take away the goals those four have scored, we would e just one goal behind the Desert Dogs with three games in hand. This is a game where defeat is unacceptable.

That's not saying much to be honest.

Yep, I know. It was actually a recommendation.

GAME DAY! GO SENS GO!!!

Let's see what Campoli can do with Carkner. Or should I say I hope he plays with CArkner.

Yeah, please for the love of all things dear, leave the rest of the pairings intact and just sub out Picard.

Lines at skate today:

Michalek-Spezza-Shannon
Kovalev-Fisher-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Kelly-Cheechoo
Regin-Winchester-Foligno-Keller

asq2 wrote:That Phoenix has scored more powerplay goals than we have causes me physical pain. Especially given Doan's having a statistical off-year thus far.

I'll cause you some more pain: Phillips has more goals than Spezza & Cheechoo has more road goals than spezza.