GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins - 1:00pm ET - Sat. Jan. 23rd, 2010

GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins - 1:00pm ET - Sat. Jan. 23rd, 2010
(the wprager "lite" edition; Shabbs is busy trying to get shot)



"Fiddlesticks! We're going for six!"

(And you thought "sPENTacular" was lame. Hah!)

The Ottawa Senators (27-21-4, 56 points, 2nd in the Northeast) will try to extend their winning streak and their lead on the Bruins when they visit Boston in a rare Saturday afternoon game. This will be the last regular-season game between the two teams, with Boston holding a commanding 4-1 lead in the season series.

The Sens extended their winning streak by scoring three PPGs in a 3-2 victory over the surprising Blues. St. Louis came in following an OT against the Habs the night before, but they ended up outshooting Ottawa 15-3 in the third period, as the Sens had to kill off three penalties with one of their best -- A-Train -- out of the game with an "upper body" injury. Chris Phillips was ignored in the three star selections but had a "monster" game killing those penalties almost single-handedly (he was out the full two minutes for one of them), then adding the GWG as an exclamation point on an awesome performance.

Other standouts last night included Regin with a goal and two assists, Brian Elliott (who is finally at .900), Milan Michalek getting a PPG in his first game back, and Kovalev with another 2 helpers (and two penalties ). Don't look now, but Kovalev has 13 points in his last 11 games -- of course that includes the 4 goal, 5 points performance against the Flyers, and the next three games where he was held pointless. What can I say, he's streaky.

Last but certainly not least, Captain Clutch added another pair of assists -- a total of 8 points in the three games since coming back from his shoulder injury.

Boston is coming off a 3-2 home loss to Columbus Thursday night. Lots of players were out for the contest (see the injury report below) but at least some will probably be back for the Sens game. Most notably, I expect Thomas to try and start another personal streak against Ottawa (Rask took the loss Thursday night).

Let's go get another one!

Game Coverage:

TV: SNET-E,NESN (HD) *** not on CBC because it's an afternoon game ***
Radio: Team 1200
Web: check http://www.atdhe.net and http://www.justin.tv

Latest updates:
- Volchenkov practiced this morning, but Clouston said he was questionable to play tomorrow in Boston. They'll decide tomorrow.

Team Lineups:

Ottawa Senators: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup

Forward lines from morning skate:

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

Boston Bruins: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/boston-bruins-team-lineup

TSN's Ice Chips:
Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11009

As a result of Milan Michalek's return, Shean Donovan will join Alexandre Picard in the press box as a healthy scratch. Jason Spezza took the morning skate on Thursday with his teammates and could back the lineup Saturday against Boston. - Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Injuries:

Jason Spezza (torn right MCL, out 6-8 weeks) *** may be ready to play ***
Jesse Winchester (knee, out a month)
Pascal Leclaire (concussion, out indefinitely)
Anton Volchenkov (upper body, missed the third period) is questionable

Boston Injuries:

Byron Bitz (1/21, undisclosed) missed Thursday's game against Columbus
Steve Begin (1/21, undisclosed) missed Thursday's game against Columbus
Marco Sturm (1/21, leg) missed Thursday's game against Columbus
Marc Savard (1/8, partially torn right MCL)
Andrew Ference (1/6, groin) expected to miss six weeks

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:
Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020760

NHL.com Game Day Preview:
Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020760

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:
Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20100123/Ott@Bos/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:
http://espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=300123001

ESPN Stats Comparison:


Media Links:
- Cory Clouston speaks with media following morning skate (MP3) http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/100122_Clouston.mp3
- Cory Clouston speaks with media after win over Blues: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/100121_Clouston-post.mp3
- 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!!!
_________________

OK, had to get this one out early 'cause I can't do that from work. I might add a few minor things during lunch hour if anything new comes up.

They may be 4-1 against us, but if you put it that we're 1-2-2 against them it looks a little better.

Great work pragues. I made a couple minor edits to clean it up but all in all fantastic.

In case you're curious:

Edits included changing 23st to 23rd and changing Boston @ Ottawa to Ottawa @ Boston (Images were reversed)

Lets show Boston that last game was not just a fluke. With Savard on the sidelines I like our chances. Plus, remember to hide those "stupid pills" the Sens like to take before a Bruins game.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Great work pragues. I made a couple minor edits to clean it up but all in all fantastic.

In case you're curious:

Edits included changing 23st to 23rd and changing Boston @ Ottawa to Ottawa @ Boston (Images were reversed)

I originally thought this was a home game. I changed the text but forgot the title/images. Thanks for fixing it up.

As for st/rd I think Shabbs should just put the number there (government style -- Sat. Jan. 23). It'll save a couple of keystrokes.

In case anyone is wondering, the Bruins already have a 4-game losing streak this season. It would not be the first time.

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Great work pragues. I made a couple minor edits to clean it up but all in all fantastic.

In case you're curious:

Edits included changing 23st to 23rd and changing Boston @ Ottawa to Ottawa @ Boston (Images were reversed)

I originally thought this was a home game. I changed the text but forgot the title/images. Thanks for fixing it up.

As for st/rd I think Shabbs should just put the number there (government style -- Sat. Jan. 23). It'll save a couple of keystrokes.

Government style would be 2010-01-23.

wprager wrote:In case anyone is wondering, the Bruins already have a 4-game losing streak this season. It would not be the first time.

Here's hoping we can keep their drive for 5 alive.

How about the Sens get Six for Kicks?

what an important game coming up. If the sens win, we'll hold the tie breaker with more victories (in case the bruins end up winning their games in hand). Wow, what a difference a week makes. This all started from New York last Thursday.

Proud of the boys. Alfie is the Diddling king! GO SENS GO! Beat the bruins silly on Saturday!

This is a huge game. Beating the Bruins twice in a row on the road would go a long way to getting the Thomas monkey off our backs and show that the first win wasn't just a fluke or wasn't due to jet lag on the Bruins part. It would also help inch the Sens closer to a respectable road record.

Without an at least .500 road record we won't be going anywhere come playoff time should we make it in.

I don't know if it was discussed in another thread, but how about that post-game altercation with Torts and Larry Brooks? Tortorella is awesome! I'm glad he was standing up for one of his players (redden) no matter how much he really does suck....

With 30 games remaining, Chris Phillips (52GP, 6G, 10A, 16PTS) is two goals shy of his NHL career high (8) and 10 points from his NHL career high (26).

Way to go Big Rig.

Many people forget or maybe just don't realize that the Big Rig was originally drafted to be a number 1 Offensive D man. I know this is a bit of a stretch but perhaps he's being recognized by Clouston for his Offensive abilities and Philly is starting to flex those offensive muscles?