GAME DAY:New York Islanders 1 @ Ottawa Senators 4 - 7:30pm ET - THUR. Nov. 4, 2010

Michalek update from Clouston - He won't play Thursday.

The good news is that while OTT hasn't yet started to play anything like the kind of hockey that it's capable of, we're still finding ways to win in the interval as we sort our game out. Given the kind of disarray we started the season off with, I think that the best we can hope for. You can already start to see things coming together, tho'. Phillips and Gonchar are getting more comfortable together, as are all our D pairings. The PP is starting to click. It's taking time and there's definitely some spots that need re-plastering and a new coat of paint, but things are slowly starting to come together. Next in order is getting Regin, Foligno, and Spezza firing, and working Michalek, Kuba, and Leclaire back into our line-up. Elliott has been great and I think it likely that he'll be our go-to goalie, but we have to get Leclaire going soon, too.

Leclaire may very well get a start against the Isles, because I don't think throwing him out against the Smurfs is the way to go (then, again, Montreal and Quebec-born goalies -- you know the history).

There was talk yesterday or the day before that Kuba *may* play Thursday.

Strike that -- from Dash's post in the Tid-bits thread, Kuba backSaturday at the earliest.

I was just going by these tweets:

SensReporter James Gordon
Sounds like it'll be Elliott again tomorrow.
4 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
»
James Gordon
SensReporter James Gordon
Kuba won't play tomorrow but probably Saturday.
4 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
»
Ottawa Senators
NHL_Sens Ottawa Senators
#Sens Clouston: Leclaire is ready to start. Kuba won't be ready until Saturday at the earliest. Michalek will not play Thursday.

i hope leclaire plays tomorrow. elliott has been good and if leclaire plays like he did at the start of the season we'll have 2 very capable goalies to choose from. not a bad thing! :KKK:

Flo The Action wrote:i hope leclaire plays tomorrow. elliott has been good and if leclaire plays like he did at the start of the season we'll have 2 very capable goalies to choose from. not a bad thing! :KKK:

I'll be surprised if Elliot doesn't get the start. He played well last game, I think they ride him for now.

rooneypoo wrote:The good news is that while OTT hasn't yet started to play anything like the kind of hockey that it's capable of, we're still finding ways to win in the interval as we sort our game out. Given the kind of disarray we started the season off with, I think that the best we can hope for. You can already start to see things coming together, tho'. Phillips and Gonchar are getting more comfortable together, as are all our D pairings. The PP is starting to click. It's taking time and there's definitely some spots that need re-plastering and a new coat of paint, but things are slowly starting to come together. Next in order is getting Regin, Foligno, and Spezza firing, and working Michalek, Kuba, and Leclaire back into our line-up. Elliott has been great and I think it likely that he'll be our go-to goalie, but we have to get Leclaire going soon, too.

Well said; it also helps that Karlsson got a partner other than that defensive vortex Lee and has started playing to his potential. The sky is truly the limit for this kid. His hockey IQ is absolutely off the charts. Can you imagine this kid when he gets a few NHL seasons under his belt and starts maturing physically? Holy Dung.

Karlsson tangent aside, this team is starting to get it together. We just need to ice a healthy lineup for more than 1 period at a time.

PKC wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:The good news is that while OTT hasn't yet started to play anything like the kind of hockey that it's capable of, we're still finding ways to win in the interval as we sort our game out. Given the kind of disarray we started the season off with, I think that the best we can hope for. You can already start to see things coming together, tho'. Phillips and Gonchar are getting more comfortable together, as are all our D pairings. The PP is starting to click. It's taking time and there's definitely some spots that need re-plastering and a new coat of paint, but things are slowly starting to come together. Next in order is getting Regin, Foligno, and Spezza firing, and working Michalek, Kuba, and Leclaire back into our line-up. Elliott has been great and I think it likely that he'll be our go-to goalie, but we have to get Leclaire going soon, too.

Well said; it also helps that Karlsson got a partner other than that defensive vortex Lee and has started playing to his potential. The sky is truly the limit for this kid. His hockey IQ is absolutely off the charts. Can you imagine this kid when he gets a few NHL seasons under his belt and starts maturing physically? Holy Dung.

Karlsson tangent aside, this team is starting to get it together. We just need to ice a healthy lineup for more than 1 period at a time.

both comments are spot on.

when things don't look great there's always karlsson to look at. this is the kind of talent you build a team around. he's going to cost us a small fortune some day.

rooneypoo wrote:The good news is that while OTT hasn't yet started to play anything like the kind of hockey that it's capable of, we're still finding ways to win in the interval as we sort our game out. Given the kind of disarray we started the season off with, I think that the best we can hope for. You can already start to see things coming together, tho'. Phillips and Gonchar are getting more comfortable together, as are all our D pairings. The PP is starting to click. It's taking time and there's definitely some spots that need re-plastering and a new coat of paint, but things are slowly starting to come together. Next in order is getting Regin, Foligno, and Spezza firing, and working Michalek, Kuba, and Leclaire back into our line-up. Elliott has been great and I think it likely that he'll be our go-to goalie, but we have to get Leclaire going soon, too.

Well said. Oh, here's a piece of "bad news" for you. you're going to have to update your avatar

http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=542374&cmpid=nhl-rxl-twt

Flo The Action wrote:

PKC wrote:

rooneypoo wrote:The good news is that while OTT hasn't yet started to play anything like the kind of hockey that it's capable of, we're still finding ways to win in the interval as we sort our game out. Given the kind of disarray we started the season off with, I think that the best we can hope for. You can already start to see things coming together, tho'. Phillips and Gonchar are getting more comfortable together, as are all our D pairings. The PP is starting to click. It's taking time and there's definitely some spots that need re-plastering and a new coat of paint, but things are slowly starting to come together. Next in order is getting Regin, Foligno, and Spezza firing, and working Michalek, Kuba, and Leclaire back into our line-up. Elliott has been great and I think it likely that he'll be our go-to goalie, but we have to get Leclaire going soon, too.

Well said; it also helps that Karlsson got a partner other than that defensive vortex Lee and has started playing to his potential. The sky is truly the limit for this kid. His hockey IQ is absolutely off the charts. Can you imagine this kid when he gets a few NHL seasons under his belt and starts maturing physically? Holy Dung.

Karlsson tangent aside, this team is starting to get it together. We just need to ice a healthy lineup for more than 1 period at a time.

both comments are spot on.

when things don't look great there's always karlsson to look at. this is the kind of talent you build a team around. he's going to cost us a small fortune some day.

He sure is going to. He's going to be awesome at his peak for sure.

Alright, first game of the year for me. Will be screaming like a little b****.

GAMEDAY! 12 hours to puck drop! Time to pull ahead of the Leafs.

Double scoring threat grows on Senators blue line
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=542451

"It was one of the first times we actually had them on their one-timing sides and they showed what they can do, get the puck off quick," said Senators goaltender Brian Elliott. "Hopefully, we’ll keep using that and we know we have a bunch of different options with our power play. We’ve got a ton of talented guys out there. On any given night, somebody can do the damage and last night, it was those two."

You getting all that, Cory?

Since starting the season at 0-15 on the PP, the Sens have scored 8 goals on 29 opportunities, or almost 28% (rounded up). How does that compare to the league leaders? Well, San Jose is firing at 28.6%, Minnesota is at 26.9% and Chicago at 25%. Of course those three did not have an 0-for-15 start; on the other hand, we know that those numbers will come down -- last year Washington led the league with 25.2%.

And the powerplay effectiveness has beneficial side-effects beyond the goals scored, as the opposing teams tend to not take as many liberties.

wprager wrote:Double scoring threat grows on Senators blue line
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=542451

"It was one of the first times we actually had them on their one-timing sides and they showed what they can do, get the puck off quick," said Senators goaltender Brian Elliott. "Hopefully, we’ll keep using that and we know we have a bunch of different options with our power play. We’ve got a ton of talented guys out there. On any given night, somebody can do the damage and last night, it was those two."

You getting all that, Cory?

The other reason goals are going in on the PP is that they're parking guys in front of the net with Neil and Fisher taking up the cause. I have been saying this ever since they took Neil off the PP. Put him back in front of the net. Finally!!

Maybe with Karlsson and Gonchar shooting the pucks instead of Meszaros and Schubert, as in years past, the forwards won't be as scared to stand in front of the net. On the other hand, when those two were shooting, in front of the net may have been the safest place to stand.

I'd also like to see them do more of the rebound-off-the-boards type of plays -- shoot just wide and have the puck bounce back near the crease. Montreal does that fairly regularly and you can't argue with their success. Similar to that, when there's no opening for a shot from the half-boards, shoot it just wide and let the forward on the other half-board shoot at the (hopefully) open net.