GAME DAY: Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm ET - Sat. Oct. 24th, 2009; and post game debate

The Ottawa Senators (5-2-1, 11 points, 2nd in the North East) host the Boston Bruins (4-4-1, 9 points, 3rd in the North East) on Saturday night at Scotiabank Place. The Sens are coming off a roller-coaster of a game vs the Preds that saw them lose in OT after coming back to tie the game 3 separate times sending it to over time in the dying seconds on a goal by Chris Phillips. The Sens came out very flat and made a ton of mistakes to get behind the 8-ball early in that game. Let's hope they've learned their lesson and come out stronger against the Bruins. The B's have not had the start they expected this season and have a number of their top players injured already. Lucic and Savard are out on LTIR and will be gone up to 6 weeks. Kessel and Kobasew have been traded away to other teams resulting in a very different looking Bruins squad that was tops in the East last season, but they are still very dangerous and with Tim Thomas in net, anything can happen. The Sens need to come out strong, take advantage of the B's injuries and take it to them hard early. Building up a nice lead in the 1st would be very refreshing. A number of Sens players are questionable for Saturday's tilt, namely Michalek and Leclaire. Elliott may get the start in net.

Game Coverage:
- TV: CBC, NESN (HD)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: Live on CBCSports.ca 7

TSN's Ice Chips:

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

UPDATE: Clouston confirmed Elliott will start tonight. No other line-up changes.

Tonight's goalies: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/5296/starting-goalies-saturday-october-24-2009
Sens' lineup: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup
Bruins' lineup: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/boston-bruins-team-lineup

Ottawa Senators:

Several players did not practice on Friday. Jason Spezza (bumps and bruises), Milan Michalek, and Pascal Leclaire (flu) were all given extra rest. Michalek is probable for Saturday. Filip Kuba (lower body) skated on his own, but is expected to rejoin the team skate at the next practice. Mike Fisher's younger brother Greg replaced Leclaire in goal at practice. He was an emergency replacement for Ottawa's ECHL team earlier this season. Jesse Winchester is going to down to Binghamton for a two-week conditioning stint (knee injury in the preseason and has yet to play in the regular season. - TSN

Elliott is expected to be in goal Sat. night vs the Bruins. Spezza is expected to play Sat. night but Michalek (upper body) and Leclaire (flu) are listed as possible.

Friday's Practice Lines

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

Defencemen:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Campoli - Karlsson
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Elliott
G. Fisher

Injuries:
Winchester (knee, on injured reserve, assigned to Bingo for conditioning), Kuba (lower body, no timetable for return).

Boston Bruins

The team placed Marc Savard on the long-term injured reserve list on Wednesday with a broken left foot. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. - Team Release

Boston, which lost Milan Lucic (broken finger) and Savard to long-term injured reserve, is also without Shawn Thornton (undisclosed injury). - Boston Globe

Dennis Wideman, who missed three games for the Bruins with a shoulder injury, returned to the lineup last night against the Predators. - Boston Globe

Potential lines vs the Senators:

Forwards:
Sturm - Krejci - Recchi
Marchand - Bergeron - Ryder
Sobotka - Whitfield - Wheeler
Paille - Begin - Bitz

Defense:
Chara - Morris
Ference - Wideman
Stuart - Hunwick

Goalies:
Thomas
Rask

Injuries:
Milan Lucic (finger surgery, LTIR); Marc Savard (broken foot, LTIR); Shawn Thornton (undisclosed, day to day)


Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020131

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020131

Ottawa Citizen Game Day Preview:

Source: coming soon...

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091024/Bos@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291024014

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Media Links:
- Clouston post-practice presser for Friday: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091023_Clouston.mp3
- SensTV profile on Chris Kelly: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?id=49435
- SensTV On-line: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

Ottawa's Last Game: vs Nashville Predators
- Date: Thu. Oct. 22nd, 2009 @ Scotiabank Place in Ottawa
- Score: Predators 6 - Senators 5 (OT)
- Recap: http://senators.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009020122
- Boxscore: http://senators.nhl.com/club/boxscore.htm?id=2009020122
- Game Summary: http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS020122.HTM
- Video: http://senators.nhl.com/club/gamevideo.htm?id=2009020122

Noteable Senators articles

Ottawa Sun:
Sens' amazing come back fall short in OT: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/22/11495986.html

Ottawa Sun:
Just a weird, weird game: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/22/11496226.html

Ottawa Sun:
Sens' walking wounded: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/23/11504386.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Key Sens miss practice Friday: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Three+Senators+miss+practice+with+injury+illness/2137534/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Preds maul Senators in wild 6-5 contest: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Predators+maul+Senators+wild+contest/2134266/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Point shots from Sens vs Preds: http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/hockeycapital/archive/2009/10/22/point-shots-from-sens-vs-preds-oct-22.aspx

OttawaSenators.com:
Prospects corner - taking on the best: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503140

OttawaSenators.com:
Brodeur aims to make own name: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503106

OttawaSenators.com:
Fewer than 250 tickets remain for Saturday's game: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503225

OttawaSenators.com:
We just stuck with it: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503241

OttawaSenators.com:
Winchester loaned to Bingo for conditioning: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503226

TSN.ca:
Cheechoo struggling: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=295827

Noteable Bruins articles:

BostonBruins.com:
Bruins recall Guillaume Lefebvre from Provedence: http://senators.nhl.com/club/gamevideo.htm?id=2009020122

BostonBruins.com:
Savard placed on LTIR: http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502933

BostonBruins.com:
Lucic placed on LTIR: http://bruins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502637

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GO SENS GO!!!

Let's get this party started! GO SENS GO!!!

Anyone going?

Uhhh... anyone know who "G. Fisher" is, listed as our 2nd goalie at the moment???

rooneypoo wrote:Uhhh... anyone know who "G. Fisher" is, listed as our 2nd goalie at the moment???

It's in there man... Fisher's little brother. Filled in for Leclaire.

I predict a win. I don't like predicting much, but I think this one will be epic. There will be blood.

Ottawa wins 3-2

GO SENS GO!!!

Michalek may sit tonight...

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Michalek+with+upper+body+injury/2140249/story.html

Donovan would replace him if that is the case.

The Leafs/Canucks game is 7pm ET tonight. A 4pm ET start in Vancouver. Sens get screwed again.

shabbs wrote:The Leafs/Canucks game is 7pm ET tonight. A 4pm ET start in Vancouver. Sens get screwed again.

Well, at least CBC is showing the game for the OTT area this time around. Could be worse.

Notes from today's practice:
- Kuba is skating with the Sens at practice this morning; Leclaire is not skating
- lines this morning: Kovalev-Fisher-Alfredsson; Michalek-Spezza-Cheechoo; Foligno-Regin-Neil; Ruutu-Kelly-Shannon-Donovan.

love everyones positive thinking, but i have a bad feeling for tonight

I want to know who the healthy scartch is... it better be Shannon.

Elliott starts tonight. No other line-up changes. Michalek is good to go.

Sorry to disappoint N4L - Shannon is in.