GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Carolina Hurricanes - 7:00pm Nov. 7th, 2008

The Sens pay a visit to Gerber's old team tonight in Carolina. Winchester got his first NHL goal last night against Philly, Fisher's finally putting up points, Kuba keeps piling the assists on, we held the league's highest scoring team to 1 goal and our D is finally looking like they are all playing on the same page. Glad to see Hartsburg's system is starting to take hold and that the team is buying into it.

No idea who's in net tonight for the Sens. Auld was not really tested last night, so he should be ok to go, but I suspect Hartsburg wants to give Gerber a chance to get back into it.

GO SENS GO!!!

Game is on Sportsnet East tonight. I've got it listed on Rogers 455 on NHL Center Ice.

Sounds good!

hopefully they just keep Auld in.. I really don't want to mess with it now.. The boys played extremely well last night, the feeling in the building was great.. and Winchester was really good last night.. Looks like Matt was right, he called it yesterday...

I have a feeling we'll see Gerbs in net. Hartsburg hinted to it during his post-game presser...

While I understand in a way why Craig might want to give Gerbs a chance; I also think it's a mistake to possibly ruin the chemistry, confidence and gelling that this team has. When they are showing signs of clicking on almost ALL cylinders, why throw a wrench into that?

I know this is terrible to say, but if Gerbs is in net, I'm not expecting the boys to pull out a win tonight.

The only good thing is both teams played last night, so no one has the advantage of a days rest.

Yeah, the last thing we need is for Gerber to come in there and ruin all the progress the team has made so far.

I totally agree here. Gerber has been struggling and on top of that you throw a healthy topping of Rust and it spells disaster. I say Gerbs should only play if Auld needs the night off. We are only a hair over 500 and can't afford to risk tossing points away IMO.

Goaliepost.com is listing Gerber and Leighton as the probable starting goalies for tonight's game.

Hmmm...

See, this is going to be bad.
It's seems to be a general consensus that we ALL (and possibly Sens management as well) want Gerbs GONE; but to TRY and trade him or move him, you have to show the league he's still a valuable commodity of sorts and the only way to do that is to showcase him; and herein lies the problem. We Sens fans tremble in fear when even the mere mention of his name coupled with the words "will start in goal" makes us freak out for a reason.

I guess it's a classic case of being caught betwen a rock and a hard place. If Gerbs cannot be moved or traded without hurting our roster, then I suppose we are stuck with him until either the end of the season or perhaps they will in fact bury him in Bingo early in the new year. Either way, to play him now and put the brakes on Auld's momentum seems hardly fair and if it ruins all the progress the team has made, I for one will be PISSED!!

Tread careful Murray and Hartsburg. You have the ingredients for a great winning team...

I'm quite pleased that Auld is getting some rest. That would have been his 8th game in a row. Considering he isn't a 60+ game type of goalie, this makes quite some sense.

Also, Gerber tends to always bring it for games against Carolina:

6W,3L 1.92 GAA 0.936 SV% 1 SO

Those are some nice numbers.

1 - Gerbs will never play himself into a valuable asset

2 - Even if Gerbs plays and poops the bed it's not gonna de-rail this train IMO. I will be pissed but I think it will just re-affirm Auld as the starter.

3 - I really hope they bury him or Murray pulls another rabbit outta his hat and gets something for Gerbs.

I think it's time to put Gerber back in. Let's see how he does with the team playing better ...

BTW ... I didn't think Vermette played very well on the 1st line last night. He doesn't fit that line well.

I do believe Gerber is playing tonight. Maybe we'll see his A game.....does he have an A game?

I actually agree Laker. Vermette just needs to get used to Heater and Spezza's playing. For instance, there was play on the rush where Heater wasn't in a good position, so he pushed the puck into the far corner, and as the commentators pointed out, Vermette was NO where to be found.

He just needs to make himself available more and get used to their style.

Now, our 2nd line is AWESOME!!

At this point, I'd almost be open to moving Foligno to the top line and try Vermette in Foligno's old spot, just to see what happens, because from what I've seen, Foligno has been crashing the net and is making himself open every chance he gets.

I think Foligno may be on the 4th line untill his defensive play gets better. BTW, 4th line looks great. They are getting lot's of icetime.

Vermette just seems to be out of position most of the time.