GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Buffalo Sabres – 7:30PM EST, Friday, March 26, 2010

Ottawa (39-30-5, 83 pts, 2nd in the North East and 5th in the Eastern Conference) visit the division-leading Buffalo Sabres (40-22-10, 90 pts, 3rd in the Eastern Conference) Friday night. The Sens are coming off back-to-back 2-0 shutouts against Montreal and Philadelphia. The two wins have snapped the losing streak, re-established Brian Elliott as the team’s “number one” (and possibly a three-peat NHL star of the week), and solidified Ottawa’s playoff position. Read the full game recap here.

With an 8 points lead over 9th place Atlanta (who have a game in hand) and just 8 games to go, the Senators are all but assured of playing beyond April 10. The only thing still to be decided is who they will face in the first round.

The Sabres have led the Division for pretty much the entire season. Both teams have struggled since the Olympic break, but the Sabres still managed to build a 7 point lead (those 10 loser points surely have something to do with it). Catching them for 3rd (or the Devils for 4th) is a very lofty ambition, but a win Friday night would be a nice start. The Sens are 4-0 in their season series with Buffalo (which is a clue to the by-line above). In their previous match up, the Sens extended their winning streak to 10 games as Jason Spezza and Brian Elliott earned the first two stars in a 4-2 road victory (Alfie got the winner with a minute to go, and sealed it with an empty-netter – relive the memories here). Expect the Sabres to come out guns a-blazing to stop this potential season-sweeper in its tracks.

Game Coverage

TV: RDS (HD),TSN (HD),MSG-B (HD
Radio: Team 1200
Web: check ATDHE.net and Justin.tv

Latest updates:
To be added.

Lineups

Ottawa
Buffalo

Ottawa Key Injuries

Milan Michalek (leg, out at least 2 weeks then re-evaluate)
Filip Kuba (lower body, day to day)

Buffalo Key Injuries

Raffi Torres (upper-body, missed Wednesday’s game)

Game Day Previews:

ESPN Preview
Ottawa Sun Preview
NHL Preview
TSN Gameday

ESPN Stats Comparison


Media Links:

OfficialSens Twitter
SensTVOnline

GO SENS GO!!!

I'm at an off-site all-hands (at SBP, no less) until well after lunch. The game day preview links will need to be updated, and I've got nothing for the "Latest Updates", so if anyone has a few minutes, go ahead and do it.

I know we all knew this but I didn't realize Elliott had been told this and that the Sun got wind of it. This is from the Ottawa Sun Preview (link under game day previews on the first post).

Brian Elliott, who stopped 55-of-55 Flyers and Habs shots after being told Saturday that he would be the team’s go-to guy down the stretch.

I dont like the looks of this blog

http://tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=315225

Bramlet07 wrote:I dont like the looks of this blog

http://tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=315225

I like the looks of Michalek after the 3 ACL surgeries. I hardly think 1 more will affect him that much, if that is indeed the problem...

Also, if tolerance for pain is a major factor in making a full recovery, I like the odds seeing how Michalek plays. Oh, and he's only 25.

Lots of room for optimism.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I know we all knew this but I didn't realize Elliott had been told this and that the Sun got wind of it. This is from the Ottawa Sun Preview (link under game day previews on the first post).

Brian Elliott, who stopped 55-of-55 Flyers and Habs shots after being told Saturday that he would be the team’s go-to guy down the stretch.

I just came from the SBP, actually. They have only 21 player pictures above the main entrance. I thought we were carrying a 23-man roster. Not sure who the *other* missing player was, but there was only one poster of a goalie. Weird, eh?

Your N1 goalie in an interview on HC:

http://pmd.fan590.com/audio_on_demand/brianelliott-hc-20100325.mp3

Ah, never mind. I was trying to figure out who #45 was that's still hanging above the entrance. I could have sworn that was the number that Picard wore but, surely, they would have changed that as soon as he was traded? Nope. I was right. It was Picard.

They have Picard's player banner displayed prominently above the main entrance. He's been gone for, what, two months? So the fact that Leclaire's is missing is probably just another oversight and not a conspiracy.

Still, that's seriously stupid, isn't it?

Definitely stupid. What I find humorous is they're still giving away hockey sticks that include an autograph from Cheechoo.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Definitely stupid. What I find humorous is they're still giving away hockey sticks that include an autograph from Cheechoo.

Hey, I have one of those sticks!

Just throwing this out there as an idea- but does anybody think it's time to put Kovalev up on a big line with some talent? Maybe throw him up with Alfie and Spezz while Michalek is out? Who knows, maybe it'll light a spark under him.

At the same time, putting Spezza and Kovalev together has the potential to create a horrific turnover machine.

Just a thought though- we need to start getting some production out of this guy before the real season starts. What is it like 11 games now, pointless??

Jordo wrote:Just throwing this out there as an idea- but does anybody think it's time to put Kovalev up on a big line with some talent? Maybe throw him up with Alfie and Spezz while Michalek is out? Who knows, maybe it'll light a spark under him.

At the same time, putting Spezza and Kovalev together has the potential to create a horrific turnover machine.

Just a thought though- we need to start getting some production out of this guy before the real season starts. What is it like 11 games now, pointless??

I'm gonna answer before SSF:
The point is to make a certain N12 "go".

Jordo wrote:Just throwing this out there as an idea- but does anybody think it's time to put Kovalev up on a big line with some talent? Maybe throw him up with Alfie and Spezz while Michalek is out? Who knows, maybe it'll light a spark under him.

At the same time, putting Spezza and Kovalev together has the potential to create a horrific turnover machine.

Just a thought though- we need to start getting some production out of this guy before the real season starts. What is it like 11 games now, pointless??

Well, here's to hoping he's saving all of his magic for the playoffs. Because when he's on, he's ON. I can't stand teh inconsistency, but I'm going to guess that he'll be completely different when the playoffs start. He hasn't had too much of a chance lately to play in the playoffs adn go anywehre with his team.

I would love to see a Michalek - Fisher - Kovalev line when Michalek is healthy again. I'm not sure if Kovalev and Spezza would be good together, but it was never really given a chance to see if it could work. I think they only played 4 games together at the most.

Cullen/regin - Spezza - Alfie isnt working to badly.

But i always wanted to see
Kovalev - Spezza - Alfie. just to see what they can do.
Michalek - Fisher - Shannon?? ahha i dunno who should be there.
Regin - Cullen - Foligno
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil