GAME DAY: New York Islanders @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm ET - Sat. March 21st, 2009

Dean McAmmond makes his return to the Nation's Capital tonight as the Isles face the Sens at SBP. Comrie and Campoli will face their old teams. Expect big games from all of these guys. The Sens have put together a string of impressive wins... most noteably against the Habs recently. Elliott has set a new Senators Franchise record with 7 wins in a row, clearly demonstrating that he's ready and willing to lead this franchise.

Starting goalies as per: http://goaliepost.com/
- Ottawa: Elliott (likely)
- Islanders: Danis (likely)

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

Senators:
Forward Chris Neil will play his 500th NHL game tonight with the Senators. - TSN

Anton Volchenkov left practice early due to some bumps and bruises. Comrie (flu) skated for the first time since last Saturday - expected to play tomorrow against the Islanders. - TSN

Practice Lines

Forwards:
Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Shannon
Comrie - Kelly - Neil
Ruutu- Winchester - Donovan

Defence:
Philips - Schubert
Lee - Kuba
Lee - Campoli

Goaltenders:
Elliott
Auld

Out:
Smith (knee - indefinite)
Picard (knee - indefinite)

Islanders:
Yann Danis will probably be between the pipes tonight against the
Senators. Backup goaltender Peter Mannino played Friday and the
Islanders probably won't ask him to play on back-to-back days. - New York Newsday

Game Day Notes from the Ottawa Sun: http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/Senators/2009/03/21/8832291-sun.html

BLACK AND BLUE REPORT

ISLANDERS: LW Sean Bergenheim (groin), out until late March; G Rick DiPietro (knee), out for season; RW Trent Hunter (ankle), out for season; G Joey MacDonald (knee), day-to-day; RW Kurtis McLean (leg), out indefinitely; D Freddy Meyer (groin), out indefinitely; C Mike Sillinger (hip), out for season; D Andy Sutton (foot), expected back later this month; C Doug Weight (knee), expected back later this month.

SENATORS: RW Mike Comrie (flu), probable; G Pascal Leclaire (ankle), out for season; D Jason Smith (knee), out indefinitely; D Alexandre Picard (knee), likely out for season; C Cody Bass (shoulder surgery), out for season.

NOTEWORTHY

The Senators are on the road for the next six games after tonight ... C Jason Spezza has points in eight straight games (five goals, eight assists) ... RW Daniel Alfredsson has 12 points in his last seven games, including the winning goal in each of the last two games ... D Filip Kuba has five assists in his last two games ... Islanders G Peter Mannino made his first NHL start last Sunday against Chicago and earned the win with a 40-save performance ... The Islanders entered last night with a 12-9-4 record in their previous 25 games ... The Senators have allowed the first goal in six straight games and have come back to win five of them ... Fewer than 1,000 tickets were available for the game as of yesterday.

ESPN Stats Comparison:


Game is on: CBC, MSG PLUS (HD)

GO SENS GO!!!

7:00 PM ET, March 21, 2009
Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada


Islanders-Senators Preview


The New York Islanders are the only team in the NHL that has already been eliminated from postseason contention. Though the Ottawa Senators will likely be joining them in the lottery, they haven't been playing like it lately.

The Senators look to improve to 8-1-0 since March 5 and avoid getting swept by the Islanders for the first time in franchise history when the teams meet Saturday night in Ottawa.

Ottawa (30-30-10) is on track to miss the playoffs for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Though their postseason streak appears to be coming to an end, the Senators plan on ending the season on a high note.

They've gone 7-1-0 over their last eight games, and the only loss in that stretch was a 5-3 defeat on the road against Eastern Conference-leading Boston.

In Ottawa's last game Thursday night, Jason Spezza scored two first-period goals and Daniel Alfredsson added a goal and an assist in a 5-4 victory over Montreal. Nick Foligno and Jarkko Ruutu also scored in the Senators' third straight win.
Ottawa is in 12th place in the East with 70 points, 11 behind Montreal for the eighth and final playoff spot.

"Every time you put your gear on, it doesn't matter what the situation is, you want to win the game," Ruutu said. "We don't really look at the standings, we just take it a game at a time and you never know, magic might happen, but it's not really something you worry about too much."

Even magic can't save the Islanders, 24-39-8, who will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season. New York has shown signs of improvement lately, going 6-3-1 in its last 10 games, but the Islanders fell short in a 5-4 loss at Carolina on Friday night.

New York scored four straight goals in the second period to overcome a 2-0 first-period deficit before giving the lead back in the third.

"I think it shows we have a lot of potential and we can score goals," winger Tim Jackman said. "When we're doing the right things, good things happen."

The Islanders hope to bounce back by continuing their strong play against the Senators. They've won the teams' first three meetings by a combined 10-5 score and can complete their first sweep of Ottawa with a victory Saturday.

The Senators, though, have to like their chances behind goaltender Brian Elliott, who's set a team rookie record with seven straight wins. Elliott is 14-4-3 with a 2.70 goals-against average in 25 games since he was called up from Binghamton of the AHL in January.

New York's Yann Danis will likely return to the net Saturday after sitting out Friday's game. Danis, who's 4-2-0 with a 2.01 GAA over his last six games, has never faced the Senators.

This is the teams' first meeting since the Islanders traded center Mike Comrie and defenseman Chris Campoli to the Senators for center Dean McAmmond and a first-round draft pick Feb. 20.

Since the trade, Comrie has two goals and three assists in 11 games, and Campoli has three goals and five assists in 13 games. The Senators are 8-4-1 since the former Islanders made their debuts Feb. 21 against Montreal.

McAmmond has two goals and five assists in 12 games with the Islanders.

shoot man, you just beat me to it!

davetherave wrote:shoot man, you just beat me to it!

HA HA! I missed doing them...

Oh oh... merge needed...

Interesting stat: Isles are 3-0 against the Sens this season.

shabbs wrote:Interesting stat: Isles are 3-0 against the Sens this season.

Be interesting as well to see Dean McAmmond back...

Hey Shabbs, proof that 'great minds think alike?' LOL

Yeah, big games for McDammond, Comrie and Campoli for sure.

Looking forward to seeing this one live at SBP.

Tonight will be game 500 for Chris Neil.

Is it normal that Volchie is not playing, and is not in the black and blue report either?

marakh wrote:Is it normal that Volchie is not playing, and is not in the black and blue report either?

I am really concerned that Lee is pulling double duty as well on the d pairings, he is bad enough most nights on one pairing, ugh.

A win tonight from the Sens and a loss from the Leafs would vault us over the Leafs in the (draft) standings, plus we would still have a game in hand.

However, the Habs may sit Kostitsyn and Komisarek, and the Islanders have thus far owned the Sens.

Should be an interesting (and important) night.

Volchie's expected to play. He left practice early due to bumps and bruises.