GAME DAY: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators - 7:30pm ET - Mon. Oct. 12th, 2009

The Sens welcome Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins to their house on Monday night. The Pens are fresh off a win over the lowly Leafs and the Sens got their third win in a row over the Atlanta Thrashers with Brian Elliott in net. Look for Cory Clouston to go with Pascal Leclaire in net against the Pens. This will be a good test for the Sens and will no doubt be their toughest match to date in this young season. The Pens are atop the Eastern Conference with the Sens hot on their trail. The Sens' 3rd and 4th lines have been providing some steady contribution and Alexei Kovalev got his frst goal as a Senator against the Thrashers. Hopefully this will help to spark the top two lines who seem to be getting better and better every game. They'll need all the offense they can muster against the Pens, that's for sure. Michalek, Spezza, Cheechoo, Kelly and Foligno all have yet to score their first goal.

Game Coverage:
- TV: FS-P (HD), SNET-E (HD)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: http://www.atdhe.net/ and NHL GameCenter Live

TSN's Ice Chips:

Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11009

Ottawa Senators:

Jonathan Cheechoo moves up to the Spezza line whil Nick Foligno moves back to the Shannon line. Ryan Shannon returns after missing three games with a concussion. Filip Kuba (lower body) and Peter Regin (upper body) will not play. TSN

Projected Lines vs. Penguins

Forwards:
Kovalev - Fisher - Alfredsson
Michalek - Spezza - Cheechoo
Foligno - Shannon - Neil
Ruutu - Kelly - Donovan

Defencemen:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Campoli - Karlsson
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Leclaire
Elliott

Shannon will play tonight. Winchester and Kuba won't be ready. Not sure on status of Regin - did not skate this morning.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Projected lines vs the Sens:

Forwards:
Kunitz - Crosby - Guerin
Fedotenko - Malkin - Dupuis
Cooke - Staal - Kennedy
Rupp - Adams - Godard

Defencemen:
Orpik - Gonchar
Eaton - Letang
McKee - Goligoski

Goaltender:
Fleury

Maxime Talbot, Mark Letestu and Ben Lovejoy are all on Injured Reserve and out indefinitely.


Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020068

Ottawa Citizen Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Senators+Game+Pittsburgh+Ottawa/2093481/story.html

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020068

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091012/Pit@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291012014

ESPN Stats Comparison:




Notable Senators Articles

Ottawa Sun:
Sens Continue to Tweak: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/12/11378051.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Lesser lights shining bright: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Lesser+lights+shining+bright/2093162/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Pascal Leclaire answers your questions: http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/hockeycapital/archive/2009/10/09/pascal-leclaire-answers-your-questions.aspx

Ottawa Sun:
Roast Penguin on the menu: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/11/11375081.html

Ottawa Sun:
Spezza poised for breakout game vs Pens: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/columnists/don_brennan/2009/10/11/11375036.html

OttawaSenators.com:
Karlssons sharing a hockey dream: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=501510&navid=DL|OTT|home

Ottawa Citizen:
Getting to know Matt Carkner: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Elliott+rises+occasion+Senators/2091352/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Elliott rises to the occasion: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Elliott+rises+occasion+Senators/2091352/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Neil just trying to help Spezza out: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Just+trying+help+Spezza+Neil+says/2089701/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Getting to know Nick Foligno: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Getting+know+Nick+Foligno/2064509/story.html

Ottawa Sun:
Kovalev meets his goal: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/columnists/don_brennan/2009/10/10/11368871.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Fisher finds his scoring touch: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Fisher+finds+scoring+touch/2091509/story.html


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GO SENS GO!!!

Some missing pieces... I'll fill 'em in tomorrow.

Great job once again Shabbs! :KKK:

I feel good for Carkner - what a nice story that is right now. He's made a perfect 6th D-man.

Getting to know Nick Foligno - 'Who would you like to trade places with for a day? Mike Fisher'


He must be a huge fan of Carrie . Cant say i blame him.

The most important statistic is to take advantage of the Pens eagerness to take penalties. They are averaging 25 penalty minutes which makes them the third most penalized team in the league this season. Interesting to see how that sways the game.

If Regin can't go, do we call up St.Pierre (6 points in 3 games I think)?

How close is Shannon? He'd do well against the Pens' skill forwards. Then again, St. Pierre sounds looks to be built just like Ryan, except a tiny bit bigger.

PKC wrote:The most important statistic is to take advantage of the Pens eagerness to take penalties. They are averaging 25 penalty minutes which makes them the third most penalized team in the league this season. Interesting to see how that sways the game.

25? Wow. That's like having 4 fights and 5 minors every single game. I'm pretty sure they are not fighting *that* much. Too bad our PP is not awake yet -- although they scored one last game.

Out of curiosity, which two teams take even more penalties than that?

Roast Penguin for dinner? Sounds good.

Took a quick look. Pittsburgh is actually tops in PIMs/game with24.6; Carolina is second at 24.4; Sam Jose is 3rd with 23.

By comparison, Toronto is a distant 9th with 16.5, Philly is hanging in tough with the Habs (Flyers are 6th with 18.6, just 0.4 behind Montreal). Ottawa is middle-of-the=pack in 14th, with 12.8.

The Florida "Saints" are last with 9 PIMs/game.

This is gonna be a tough game... if Leclaire is to steal a game... tonight is the night.

I have a good feeling about this game. My prediction is that the Sens will prevail with a final score of 3-1.

Bramlet07 wrote:Getting to know Nick Foligno - 'Who would you like to trade places with for a day? Mike Fisher'


He must be a huge fan of Carrie . Cant say i blame him.

If FIsher asks for a trade, at least we know what the rumours will be in town...

Spezza centering MIchalek and Cheechoo,

Shannon replaces REgin.

(Brent Wallace)

marakh wrote:Spezza centering MIchalek and Cheechoo,

Shannon replaces REgin.

(Brent Wallace)

really? i've been waiting all season (ha, 4 games) to see choochoo given a chance like that. hopefully it's an experiment that pays out. should be a good game. GO SENS GO