GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Nashville Predators - 8:00pm ET - Mon. Feb. 16th, 2009

The Sens continue their road trip when they roll into Nashville tonight. A recent surge has seen them string together 4 wins in a row - something we've not seen going back to Dec. 2007. Elliott got yanked in the Minny game after 3 goals, but he can hardly be faulted for that. No doubt he was tired and some bad defensive plays in front of him resulted in the goals. Auld came in and was solid and is expected to get the start tonight. What was more impressive to me was that Clouston adjusted the Sens lines after bringing in Auld to deal with Minny's attack, and was able to turn the game around. Very refreshing to see a coach read the game so well, adjust accordingly and get his players back in it. So far, so good.

The Preds have gone 7-3-0 since the All-Star break so they're seeing their own surge of late. They sit 11th in the West and it's a log jam out there. Saturday saw them win 3-2 in OT over the East leading Bruins.

No suspension for Ruutu from his face wash of Clutterbuck while he was on the bench in the Minny game. Good to see, as I'm curious to see if he and Tootoo will get up to anything in this game.

Starting goalies as per: http://goaliepost.com/
- Ottawa: Alex Auld (probable)
- Nashville: Pekka Rinne (probable)

Injuries as per TSN: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/injuries/

Ottawa:
Cody Bass - on injured reserve and is out indefinitely - left shoulder surgery; Chris Neil - on injured reserve and is out indefinitely - lacerated right calf.

Nashville:
Scott Nichol - on injured reserve - concussion-like symptoms; Alexander Sulzer - on injured reserve and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks - separated left shoulder; Radek Bonk - probable for Monday's game against Ottawa upper body

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

The Predators assigned rookie RW Patric Hornqvist to Milwaukee of the AHL on Sunday. This was to make room for Jordin Tootoo, who returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing seven games with a hand injury. - Tennessean

ESPN Stats Comparison:


Game is on: RIS, TSN (HD).

Watch on-line here: http://www.atdhe.net/

GO SENS GO!!!

I'm curious to see how what the lines look like for tonight, and how the boys will play. Their recent admissions of smiles and having fun seem to have possibly lifted the dark cloud that many thought had permeated the Sens locker room. Let's hope this is a continuing trend.

Yeah, but does Mike Fisher have a date with Carrie Underwood before or after the game?

'Inquiring Minds Need to Know'.
:lol!:

Great game day thread as usual Shabbs. Thanks for adding the atdhe link as a viewing option for those that just can't take listening to Pierre Macguire. I watched the Minny game on my friends TV through his laptop and the picture was actually better than the A-Channel feeds we had to put up with last season.

As for my prediction for tonights game I see another win. Just look at the way they clawed back against the stingiest team in the league. I have renewed faith that they can pull this one off. Don't get me wrong I don't see playoffs but I see a win tonight :D.

Keep the march to 9th alive!!

Honestly though, I can very much see Montreal and New York missing the playoffs, and I think we can beat Buffalo up the stretch. It seems like alot of teams are falling at the same time we're on the rise. You never know guys.

Nashville should be a good test- everybody keep their eye out for Hamhuis- I still think he'd be a fantastic pickup for this team going forward.

Nashville's coming off a HUGE win against the Bruins, and Ottawa's frseh on a 4 game win streak...

Good tilt in HD tonight!

Thanks Shabbs for the snapshot.

It'll be interesting to hear how the announcers handle the Tootoo-Ruutu tongue twister.

Preds are a tough team to call. They just beat the Bruins, scraped by the Blues, and fell to the Wings and Stars after topping the Wild and Ducks.

"Cory Goes Country" tonight.

Sure is nice to FINALLY have a coach that makes in game adjustments and they actually work!

What a LOONG time coming that's been, eh Clutch?

Seriously though, maybe it's just me, but Clouston doesn't appear to look out of place in the least... He's reading the plays and game very well and quite effectively and isn't too slow to react and/or be proactive in his tactics and approach.

Who knows: we could very well see Cory back here next season, with a new contract in hand...?

So if Ottawa lays a Dung on Nashville tonight, then what?

Sort of off topic but noteworthy

The Minnesota Game Day thread was 9th in the top ten most replied to topics with 219 - There are only 3 Game Day threads ahead of that with two being the Isles (in the 300's) and one the Rangers (230).

Also, it was 8th in the top ten most viewed topics with over 1300 views.

PKC wrote:So if Ottawa lays a Dung on Nashville tonight, then what?

Then the honeymoon is over? Actually I don't really know. I frankly don't care why they're winning. At this point I just like watching them with the thought they might actually win rather than going in expecting a loss and having a win be a total surprise.

I think I already said that this new system is a trap-buster. Nashville seems to be a team that plays not-to-lose. I like our chances.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Sort of off topic but noteworthy

The Minnesota Game Day thread was 9th in the top ten most replied to topics with 219 - There are only 3 Game Day threads ahead of that with two being the Isles (in the 300's) and one the Rangers (230).

Also, it was 8th in the top ten most viewed topics with over 1300 views.

We are a passionate bunch, that is for sure.

shabbs wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Sort of off topic but noteworthy

The Minnesota Game Day thread was 9th in the top ten most replied to topics with 219 - There are only 3 Game Day threads ahead of that with two being the Isles (in the 300's) and one the Rangers (230).

Also, it was 8th in the top ten most viewed topics with over 1300 views.

We are a passionate bunch, that is for sure.

Still nothing like the days at the site that shall not be mentioned when we'd regularly hit 500 + but we're well on our way and we're only 6 months old - In baby terms were only just starting to eat solids .

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

PKC wrote:So if Ottawa lays a Dung on Nashville tonight, then what?

Then the honeymoon is over? Actually I don't really know. I frankly don't care why they're winning. At this point I just like watching them with the thought they might actually win rather than going in expecting a loss and having a win be a total surprise.

Sorry what I typed was: So if Ottawa lays a Dung-kicking on Nashvile tonight, then what?