GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Edmonton Oilers - 9:30PM EST. Tuesday, March 10, 2010

SensGirl11 wrote:Holy moly! We have 2 back to backs in one week. Hopefully everyone is healthy and ready to go.

22nd - MTL
23rd - PHI
26th - BUF
27th - FLA

Good thing we have two #1s.

Here's the game day preview from NHL.com. If you want a laugh, read the next-to-last paragraph:

Oilers aim for third straight; Senators try to snap skid
Monday, 03.08.2010 / 7:46 PM
Brian Hunter - NHL.com Staff Writer
SENATORS (36-25-5) at OILERS (21-38-6)

Last 10: Ottawa 5-4-1; Edmonton 3-7-0

Season series: Second and final meeting of the regular season between these teams. Ottawa won 4-3 at Scotiabank Place on Nov. 10 as Jason Spezza scored the decisive shootout goal.

Big story: Break up the Oilers! Seriously, though, as a difficult season in Edmonton winds down, Pat Quinn and his troops have some reason to smile after consecutive wins over Minnesota and New Jersey, each impressive in its own right. The Wild are in desperate need of points as they chase a Western Conference playoff berth, while the Devils are fighting for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Team Scope:
Senators: This is Ottawa's fourth game out of the Olympic break and the Senators are still looking for their first win. The offense has been sluggish since NHL play resumed, with the team managing just one goal in each of its three previous games. That includes a 2-1 shootout loss on Saturday to visiting Toronto, the basement team in the Eastern Conference.

"It was a tough game," said forward Chris Neil, who scored the lone goal despite being one of several Senators affected by a flu bug that recently hit the team. "I didn't know if I was going to be able to play tonight but the guys battled through it and we were able to get a point out of it but it would have been nice to get two."

Oilers: Jeff Deslauriers probably wishes he could play the Devils every game. The second-year Edmonton netminder has allowed just one goal in two career starts against New Jersey, and on Sunday he recorded his third shutout of the season in a 2-0 win at Rexall Place. Gilbert Brule and Marc Pouliot scored the goals. This is the best run for the Oilers since a five-game winning streak to begin the month of December.

"What we had before was a bit more of a negative situation, but the break just cut the mood and everybody had a time to relax and refresh their mind," Deslauriers said. "After the break we came here, we started working hard, and we changed a bit our system. Everybody had to be on the same page and now it's getting better. Everybody is more comfortable in it and we just have to work together to win hockey games."

Who's hot: Ottawa goalie Pascal Leclaire had perhaps his best performance of the season with a 30-save effort against Toronto. … Brule has two goals and three assists in his last five games and is now tied for second on Edmonton with 14 goals. Deslauriers has stopped 50 of 51 shots over his last two starts.

Injury report: Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson and forward Peter Regin missed Saturday's game with the flu and are day-to-day, as is defenseman Filip Kuba with a lower-body injury. Forward Nick Foligno (broken leg) and defenseman Chris Campoli (knee) are on injured reserve.

Edmonton forward Ethan Moreau (neck) is day-to-day. Recently-acquired forward Ryan Jones tore his MCL and is likely to miss the rest of the season. Defensemen Ladislav Smid (neck) and Sheldon Souray (hand) and forwards Ales Hemsky (shoulder) and Jean-Francois Jacques (back) have already been ruled out for the season. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (back) and forward Ryan Stone (knee) are out indefinitely.

Stat pack: Ottawa forward Mike Fisher leads the team in game-winning goals this season with six and shots with 176. His 20 goals are one behind Milan Michalek for the team lead. … Ryan Whitney has been a minutes eater since arriving in Edmonton. The defenseman led the team with 26:20 of ice time against Minnesota and 25:46 against New Jersey.

Puck drop: The Senators made sure an important piece of their future will be staying put by signing 22-year-old defenseman Brian Lee to a new two-year contract on Monday, preventing him from becoming a restricted free agent at season’s end.

"It feels great," said Lee, who has four goals and 17 points in 77 career games. "Now I don't have to worry about anything but having fun, working hard and playing hockey. … It takes some of the pressure off."

Here is the ESPN game-day preview:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=300309006

The Ottawa Senators have struggled to find their form since the end of the Olympic break. They hope a trip to Western Canada and an eventual stop in the Olympic host city will provide a spark.

The Senators begin a three-game road swing against Northwest Division opponents Tuesday at Edmonton, where the Oilers are looking to extend a modest two-game winning streak.

Ottawa (36-25-5) led the Northeast heading into the hiatus for the Olympics in Vancouver -- where it plays Saturday -- but has gone 0-2-1 since play resumed to drop two points behind Buffalo.

The Senators, who play 11 of their final 16 on the road, were able to grind out a point Saturday in a 2-1 shootout loss to Toronto as both captain Daniel Alfredsson and center Peter Regin did not play due to a flu bug that spread throughout the locker room during the past week.

"It was a tough game," said Chris Neil, who scored Ottawa's lone goal. "I didn't know if I was going to be able to play tonight but the guys battled through it and we were able to get a point out of it but it would have been nice to get two."

Both Alfredsson -- the team leader with 34 assists and 51 points -- and Regin are expected to play this game, and with the team relatively healthy ahead of this trip, coach Cory Clouston wants his team to focus on the task at hand.

"We've talked to the guys and told them we can't take (Edmonton) lightly," Clouston told the Senators' official Web site. "They understand the importance of just getting that first game under our belt, playing a real good solid game and knowing Edmonton is a tough opponent."

While that might have been a tough sell since Edmonton (21-38-6) has an NHL-low 48 points, the Oilers have won consecutive games due to the solid goaltending of Jeff Deslauriers. He made 28 saves before stopping 4 of 6 shootout attempts in a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Friday and followed that effort with a 22-save shutout in Monday's 2-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

"He's been really sharp in both games," Oilers coach Pat Quinn said about Deslauriers. "We were pretty good in front of him, too, but he made some big stops when he had to. He looked sharp.

"He wasn't sitting back like he does when he doubts himself every once in a while. He's not guessing right now. He is playing like he knows what is happening out there."

The Oilers, who have won just six of 33 (6-25-2) have not won three straight since a season-high five-game winning streak from Dec. 3-11.

Center Gilbert Brule, enjoying a career season with 14 goals and 16 assists, has five points in his last five games. He also scored the tying goal in Edmonton's 4-3 shootout loss at Ottawa on Nov. 10.

Ottawa has won five in a row between the teams -- two by shootout -- since a 3-1 road loss March 14, 2004.

Practice lines from a couple days ago (NHL_Sens twitter):
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Winchester/Shannon-Donovan
Kelly-Cullen-Neil
Regin-Fisher-Kovalev
*Foligno

Later clarified that there was "no specific order to the lines."

wprager wrote:Practice lines from a couple days ago (NHL_Sens twitter):
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Winchester/Shannon-Donovan
Kelly-Cullen-Neil
Regin-Fisher-Kovalev
*Foligno

Later clarified that there was "no specific order to the lines."

Intriguing.

wprager wrote:Practice lines from a couple days ago (NHL_Sens twitter):
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Winchester/Shannon-Donovan
Kelly-Cullen-Neil
Regin-Fisher-Kovalev
*Foligno

Later clarified that there was "no specific order to the lines."

Nice to see we're giving the guy every opportunity to succeed.

PKC wrote:

wprager wrote:Practice lines from a couple days ago (NHL_Sens twitter):
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Winchester/Shannon-Donovan
Kelly-Cullen-Neil
Regin-Fisher-Kovalev
*Foligno

Later clarified that there was "no specific order to the lines."

Nice to see we're giving the guy every opportunity to succeed.

I understand what you're saying but I think he has a better shot there than he does playing on the left side of Fisher and Kovalev. Eventually, it would be nice to see Cullen in between Foligno and Kovalev but it's awfully tough to budge Fisher out of that spot, no matter how much he struggles.

SeawaySensFan wrote:I understand what you're saying but I think he has a better shot there than he does playing on the left side of Fisher and Kovalev. Eventually, it would be nice to see Cullen in between Foligno and Kovalev but it's awfully tough to budge Fisher out of that spot, no matter how much he struggles.

100% bang on. He needs to be centering a line to be successful. I've been pleading with anyone who will listen to put Fisher back on line 3 with Neil, but alas, this organization will play a cold Mike Fisher into the ground just waiting for him to start producing instead of laying off him a bit when he's in a rut and letting someone else step up.

Who comes out when Foligno gets back? Love Shannon's hustle, but can't help but feel he'd be the odd man out....or Regin.

Michallica wrote:Who comes out when Foligno gets back? Love Shannon's hustle, but can't help but feel he'd be the odd man out....or Regin.

I was wondering the same thing the other day, but never gave it any more thought.

Michalek - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Kovalev
Regin - Cullen - Shannon
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
extras:
Donovan
Winchester

Wait...that was too easy, who am I missing?

SpezDispenser wrote:

Michallica wrote:Who comes out when Foligno gets back? Love Shannon's hustle, but can't help but feel he'd be the odd man out....or Regin.

I was wondering the same thing the other day, but never gave it any more thought.

Michalek - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Kovalev
Regin - Cullen - Shannon
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
extras:
Donovan
Winchester

Wait...that was too easy, who am I missing?

Regin's the one on the two-way deal. Besides, he's not that effective on the wing. Unless they're willing to scratch both Winchester and Donovan?

SeawaySensFan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

Michallica wrote:Who comes out when Foligno gets back? Love Shannon's hustle, but can't help but feel he'd be the odd man out....or Regin.

I was wondering the same thing the other day, but never gave it any more thought.

Michalek - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Kovalev
Regin - Cullen - Shannon
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
extras:
Donovan
Winchester

Wait...that was too easy, who am I missing?

Regin's the one on the two-way deal. Besides, he's not that effective on the wing. Unless they're willing to scratch both Winchester and Donovan?

Oh yeah, I think they'd scratch both Winchester and Donovan personally. I doubt it's a big deal to do that at this point, we're well below the cap and Regin is better than those two (IMO).

I'm typing this from the lobby of my 5 Star Hotel in Puerto Plata where I'm using the free Wi-Fi offered by the hotel. Wooot.


Take that suckas.

Bastard.

SpezDispenser wrote:Bastard.

And my 18 month old is quietly sleeping on the couch beside me 28 degree not humid and not a cloud to see anywhere.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Bastard.

And my 18 month old is quietly sleeping on the couch beside me 28 degree not humid and not a cloud to see anywhere.

And you're inside your room because...

marakh wrote:9.30 eh... nice, I can watch Lost and just miss the 1st 15 minutes of the game

Or stop watching at 9:35 and catch the ending during the first intermission (I'm assuming, of course, the availability of a PVR).

PKC wrote:

wprager wrote:Practice lines from a couple days ago (NHL_Sens twitter):
Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson
Ruutu-Winchester/Shannon-Donovan
Kelly-Cullen-Neil
Regin-Fisher-Kovalev
*Foligno

Later clarified that there was "no specific order to the lines."

Nice to see we're giving the guy every opportunity to succeed.

Now, now, be nice. Cullen is also being given PP time.