GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens - 7:00pm ET - Sat. Jan. 16th, 2010

The Ottawa Senators (23-21-4, 50 points) barely -- and I mean barely -- 3rd in the Northeast, attempt to remain 3rd while evening out the record on the current road trip. They pay a visit to the Bell Center, home of Les Candiens de Montreal (23-21-4 -- hmm, that looks awfully familiar).

The Sens have snapped a season-high 5 game losing streak on the back of third-string goalie Mike Brodeur's 32-save shut out against Hentik Lundqvist and the Rangers. With #1 starter Pascal Leclaire dizzy after taking a puck in practice, and #2 Brian Elliott sick with the flu, Brodeur got the call at 11 AM during the morning skate. A nap in the back of the car on the three hour ride to MSG must have been just the tonic he needed to post his second career NHL win and first shut out. Can a McCain Delicio ad (with Randy Robitaille, natch) be far behind?

Following the win the team received an extra dose of good news as Captain Daniel Alfredsson skated with the team in practice and said he will be decide on game day whether he can play. Dare to dream. GO SENS GO!!!

Game Coverage:

- TV: NHLN-US, CBC (HD), RDS (HD)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: check http://www.atdhe.net and http://www.justin.tv

Latest updates:
- Brodeur will probably start second straight for the Sens (although Clouston never announces starters until game day)
- Michalek, Spezza, Leclaire, Winchester are still out
- Alfredsson and no Kuba are game-day decisions

Team Lineups:
Ottawa Senators: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup
New York Rangers: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/new-york-rangers-team-lineup

TSN's Ice Chips:

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

Ottawa Senators:

Daniel Alfredsson (separated shoulder) said the decision to return to the lineup is his, but he will wait until Saturday to decide if he will come back earlier than next week's projected return. He could be back Saturday night. Cory Clouston will not announce his starter until tomorrow. Elliott (flu) is well enough to play if needed. Leclaire suffered a concussion on a 2-on-1 drill in Thursday's morning skate in New York. He was struck in the mask and will follow concussion protocol for at least the next week. - TSN

Practice Lines

Forwards:

Shannon - Regin - Kovalev
Foligno - Fisher - Alfredsson
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
Cheechoo - Smith - Donovan
Daugavins

Defencemen:

Phillips - Volchenkov
Campoli - Karlsson
Picard - Kuba
Carkner

Goaltenders:

Brodeur
Elliott

Healthy scratches:
- Daugavins, if Alfredsson is activated

Injuries:
- Jason Spezza (torn right MCL, out 6-8 weeks)
- Daniel Alfredsson (separated left shoulder, may be back Saturday or Monday)
- Milan Michalek (concussion, out indefinitely, will miss Saturday's game)
- Jesse Winchester (knee, out until mid-February)
- Filip Kuba (upper body injury, day to day, questionable for the Habs game)
- Pascal Leclaire (concussion symptoms after taking a puck on the mask at practice two days ago)

Montreal Canadiens:

Projected lineup vs the Sens:

Forwards:

Pouliot - Gomez - Gionta
Cammalleri - Plekanec - D'Agostini
Moen - Metropolit - Pacioretty
Bergeron - Lapierre - Laraque

Defensemen:

Spacek - Hamrlik
Gorges - Markov
Mara - Gill

Goaltenders:

Price
Halak

Injuries:

Olivier Fortier (shoulder surgery, on IR, out indefinitely)
Sergei Kostitsyn (left ankle, on IR)
Andrei Kostitsyn (left knee surgery, expected to miss six weeks)
Ryan O'Byrne (personal, missed Thursday's game against Dallas)
George Laraque (upper body, played Thursday against Dallas)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: will post when it is available...

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: will post when it is available...

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20100116 when available

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/scoreboard?date=20100116 when available

ESPN Stats Comparison:

-- I'll let Shabbs fill this one in --

Media Links:
-- I'll let Shabbs fill this one in --
- 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!!!

Let's go Alfie and please win against these damm Habs!!!

Is winnie back?

TheAvatar wrote:Is winnie back?

What? He's been gone, what, a week? He's supposed to miss at least a month.

I hope they don't take Daugavins out, I liked his mojo with Z.Smith.

SpezDispenser wrote:I hope they don't take Daugavins out, I liked his mojo with Z.Smith.

I like Smith, but Daugavins looked like the mojo would have worked with anybody.

Nice GDT man... was just sitting down to crank it out. Good thing I checked.

GO SENS GO!!!

I guess Alfie will decide on game-day... I'm amazed he's even considering it... didn't he do that last time he was out for a while? An early return in Montreal?

Crazy about Leclaire, gone for at least a week. So it's the Brodeur/Elliott show for now.

TheAvatar wrote:Is winnie back?

He was slated to be gone for a month wasn't he? I don't think he's back until Feb. 10th, 2010.

Twitter it up!

http://twitter.com/GMHockey/status/7811305661

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I hope they don't take Daugavins out, I liked his mojo with Z.Smith.

I like Smith, but Daugavins looked like the mojo would have worked with anybody.

Fair enough, yeah, he was excellent all game long. It would have been really great if Z.Smith had bagged that goal so they both could have gotten their first career points.

SpezDispenser wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:I hope they don't take Daugavins out, I liked his mojo with Z.Smith.

I like Smith, but Daugavins looked like the mojo would have worked with anybody.

Fair enough, yeah, he was excellent all game long. It would have been really great if Z.Smith had bagged that goal so they both could have gotten their first career points.

They're saving that for this

Media links:
- Clouston post-skate presser from Friday in Montreal: http://bit.ly/6hkc7O
- Alfredsson presser from Friday in Montreal: http://bit.ly/6h8Q5W
- Leclaire presser from Friday in Montreal: http://bit.ly/8PsyKh
- Clouston post-game presser from Thursday: http://bit.ly/5GvuIK

Other news:
- Clouston: Alfredsson and Kuba may play tomorrow, both will be game-day decisions.

Whiskey Sour's are going down nice tonight... here's to a great game tomorrow!

GO SENS GO!!!

Montreal Canadiens:

Projected lineup vs the Sens:

Forwards:
Pouliot - Gomez - Gionta
Cammalleri - Plekanec - D'Agostini
Moen - Metropolit - Pacioretty
Bergeron - Lapierre - Laraque

Defencemen:
Spacek - Hamrlik
Gorges - Markov
Mara - Gill

Goaltenders:
Price
Halak

Injuries:
- Olivier Fortier (shoulder surgery, on IR, out indefinitely)
- Sergei Kostitsyn (left ankle, on IR)
- Andrei Kostitsyn (left knee surgery, expected to miss six weeks)
- Ryan O'Byrne (personal, missed Thursday's game against Dallas)
- George Laraque (upper body, played Thursday against Dallas)