GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Florida Panthers - 7:30pm ET - Wed. Oct. 28th, 2009

The Ottawa Senators (5-2-2, 12 points, 2nd in the North East) roll into Florida to face the Panthers (2-6-1, 5 points, last in the South East) on Wednesday night. A last minute collapse saw the Sens fall to the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday night. The Sens had the game in the bag, but with 90 seconds to go, the B's pulled out all the stops and sent it to a shootout. A bitter taste was left in every single Sens fan's mouth after that collapse... as it was an all too familiar scene unfortunately. The Sens' PP continues to struggle but should get some help with the return of Kuba to the lineup. The Sens' PK has been outstanding tallying 4 short handed goals this season already. Elliott was in net last game for Leclaire who has come down with the flu, which seems to be making the rounds of the Sens locker. Hopefully the team has recovered and everyone will be ready to go Wednesday night. The Panthers have lost three in a row and find themselves at the bottom of the South East division and 2nd last in the Eastern Conference. The Sens need to take advantage early, get the PP working and play a full 60 minutes. Vokoun is a goalie that can stand on his head and steal a game at any given chance, so they need to be ready.

Biggest news today was that the Sens assigned Karlsson to Bingo prior to playing his 10th game in the NHL. Karlsson has a two-way contract and this move will save a year on his ELC. It's a log jam at "D" with Kuba coming back and unfortunately, players with two-way contracts are usually the ones to take a hit first no matter how well or poor they have performed to this point.

Game Coverage:
- TV: TSN2 (HD), FS-F
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: http://www.atdhe.net/

Game Day Updates:
- Leclaire to start in net
- Donovan in, Shannon out

TSN's Ice Chips:

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

Ottawa Senators:

Erik Karlsson has been sent to Binghamton (AHL). The 19-year-old rookie has played in nine NHL games and because he is European he can be sent to the AHL or back to Sweden without triggering a year on his pro contract. - TSN

Ottawa spent nearly all of Monday's practice (about 90 minutes) working on their powerplay, which is ranked 29th in the league. Peter Regin and rookie Erik Karlsson both missed the practice with the flu, which seems to be going around the Sens' locker room. Pascal Leclaire missed some time last week with the virus. - TSN

Filip Kuba (hip/groin/pelvis) is expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday. - TSN

Erik Karlsson has played his ninth game, leaving Senators management with a decision to make. Wednesday's game would be his 10th and count as a year against his contract. general manager Bryan Murray wouldn't discuss Karlsson's future with the media Monday morning, saying he wanted to talk to the rookie first. Head coach Cory Clouston said the Senators have a tough decision to make in regards to the defenceman's future. - TSN

Projected lines vs the Panthers:

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

Defencemen:
Phillips - Volchenkov
Kuba - Campoli
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Leclaire
Elliott

Injuries:
Winchester (knee, on injured reserve, assigned to Bingo for conditioning), Kuba (lower body, questional for Wed's game); Pascal Leclaire (flu, questionable for Wed's game)

Florida Panthers

The Panthers have to make multiple roster decisions to make before their next game Wednesday against the Senators. Not only will they be without David Booth, who is out indefinitely with a concussion, but their other speedy winger, Radek Dvorak, also won’t play because of a knee injury. Dvorak was hurt when he was hit near the boards in the opening minute of the second period Saturday against the Flyers. He was helped off the ice and did not return. - Sun Sentinel

Defenseman Jason Garrison was sent back to Rochester on Sunday after being called up Saturday to play against the Flyers. - Sun Sentinel

Projected lines vs the Sens:

Forwards:
Koistinen - Veiss - Frolik
Stillman - Kreps - Horton
Olesz - Reinprecht - Campbell
McArdle - Moore - Repik

Devencemen:
Ballard - McCabe
Seidenberg - Leopold
Allen - Kulikov

Goaltenders:
Vokoun
Clemmenson

Injuries:
Nick Tarnasky (orbital bone, on IR, out indefinately); Radek Dvorak (left knee, expected to miss Wed's game vs Ottawa); David Booth (concussion, out indefinately)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020160

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020160

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091028/Ott@Fla/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291028026

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Media Links:
- Clouston post-practice presser from Wednesday: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091028_Clouston.MP3
- Clouston post-practice presser from Tuesday: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091027_Clouston.mp3
- 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 Boston Bruins
- Date: Sat. Oct. 24th, 2009 @ Scotiabank Place in Ottawa
- Score: Bruins 4 - Senators 3 (SO)
- Recap: http://senators.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009020131
- Boxscore: http://senators.nhl.com/club/boxscore.htm?id=2009020131
- Game Summary: http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS020131.HTM
- Video: http://senators.nhl.com/club/gamevideo.htm?id=2009020131

Noteable Senators articles

Ottawa Sun:
Sens ship Karlsson to Bingo: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/27/11542546.html

Ottawa Sun:
Sens face decision on Karlsson: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/26/11529881.html

Ottawa Sun:
Clouston take shot at power play: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/2009/10/27/11535776-sun.html

Ottawa Sun:
Sens' fight club big hit with fans: http://www.ottawasun.com/sports/columnists/don_brennan/2009/10/26/11534736.html

Ottawa Sun:
Sens assign Karlsson to Bingo: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Senators+demote+Karlsson/2150705/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Show will go on: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Show+will/2148457/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Sens look for ways to take advantage: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Sens+look+ways+take+advantage/2148459/story.html

Ottawa Citizen:
Sens done in by old, familiar enemy: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ottawa-senators/Sens+done+familiar+enemy/2142979/story.html

OttawaSenators.com:
Karlsson headed to Bingo: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503717

OttawaSenators.com:
Kuba's return a power play boost: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503589

OttawaSenators.com:
Melnyk gives Canadian skiers a lift: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503577

Noteable Panthers articles:

FloridaPanthers.com
Panthers recall McArdle and Repik: http://panthers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503587

FloridaPanthers.com
A new phase: http://panthers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=503618

Spread the word!

Follow GMHockey on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gmhockey

GO SENS GO!!!

Curious to see which Sens team shows up. The one that can cough up the lead in the dying minutes of the 3rd, or the one that can claw it's way back to tie a game in the 3rd.

They should win handily, but never say never, they could dog it again

From the Ottawa Sun - Clouston Takes Shot at Powerplay

Senators coach Cory Clouston said he doesn't remember too many times before when he spent as much time working on the power play as he did yesterday.

It wasn't all fun and games, either.

At one point, the coach lost it on his specialists. "Hit the (bleepin') net!" he yelled.

Seriously!

I tell ya, these two back to back games - there are zero excuses for not coming out flying in both. I'll be most displeased if they suck.

Yeah, back to back games... Panthers and TBay... there is no reason we should not get two wins. The effort has to be there though.

No word on the goalie... with back to backs, we'll need both of them.

The Panthers have more powerplay goals than we do.

We are both horrid on the PP. They are only slightly better. 12.5% vs 11.4%.

shabbs wrote:We are both horrid on the PP. They are only slightly better. 12.5% vs 11.4%.

Yeah, but we're sending out Kovalev, Alfredsson, Spezza, Michalek etc. What do their PP units look like?

Hope Donovan gets back in, we havnt won a game without him so...

Veiss?

Maybe Campoli will play like he did last year when paired with Kuba? We kept saying how Campoli was not a good partner for Karlsson, but perhaps it goes both ways.

Wow, has it ever gotten bunched up in the North East. Only 2 points separating 4 teams. The next closest division is the Pacific, where 4 points separate the top four. Everywhere else it's 7 or 6.

wprager wrote:Maybe Campoli will play like he did last year when paired with Kuba? We kept saying how Campoli was not a good partner for Karlsson, but perhaps it goes both ways.

Undoubtedly, but Karlsson with Kuba IMO has the potential, even this year, of being better than Campoli and Kuba. So, it'd be better long-term and short-term. Part of me thinks it's Murray trying to justify the NYI trade.

This will be my last post on the issue, though. What's done is done.

With Karlsson out of the picture Campoli will get a chance to shine. While I still think that we are not going to see Karlsson back this season, what if Murray gets a call about Campoli? It would be weird, but it could happen.

Game day!! GO SENS GO!!

Sens win 5-2