GAME DAY: Carolina Hurricanes @ Ottawa Senators - 7:30pm ET - Thu. Apr. 1st, 2010

The Ottawa Senators (42-30-5, 89 points, 2nd in the Northeast, 5th in the Eastern Conference) return home to face the Carolina Hurricanes (33-35-9, 75 points, 3rd in the Southeast, 11th in the Eastern Conference) on Thursday night at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Sens are coming off an OT win vs the Caps in DC that saw Kovalev snap out of his scoring slump and notch the game winner in OT. Spezza enjoyed a 4 point night with 2 goals and 2 assists, Alfie had 4 assists, Karlsson finished with 2 assists and Regin continues to produce on the top line. The Sens are firmly locked in 5th place right now and barring a monumental collapse by New Jersey, will likely finish in 5th with a first round match up with 4th placed New Jersey. The Sens now only need a single point to clinch a playoff spot. Carolina is coming off a win vs the Habs in Montreal on Wednesday night and hopefully the Sens can capitalize on this. The 'Canes have won 2 out of their last 5 games and have a very outside chance at making the post season this year. Look for Elliott to get the start again, and to be honest, he should get the start from here on in. Ward is listed as the probable started for the 'Canes.

Game Coverage:
- TV: RDS (HD), FS-CR, SNET-E
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: check http://www.atdhe.net and http://www.justin.tv

Latest updates:
- Clouston: new forward Butler will play; Elliott starts in goal; Volchenkov will play.
- Clouston post practice presser: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/100401_Clouston.mp3
- Legace expected to get the start tonight for the 'Canes: http://www.canescountry.com/2010/4/1/1400162/senators-host-hurricanes-thursdays

Team Lineups:
Ottawa Senators: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup
Carolina Hurricanes: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/carolina-hurricanes-team-lineup

TSN's Ice Chips:

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

Ottawa Senators:

The Sens did not practice on Wednesday but did do an off-ice workout. Anton Volchenkov, who missed the last game with an upper-body injury, skated Wednesday and could play on Thursday. Milan Michalek, who has a left leg injury, skated Wednesday but head coach Cory Clouston says he won't be ready to play until the last few games of the season. - TSN

Projected lineup vs. the Hurricanes (pending updates from Clouston):

Forwards:
Regin - Spezza - Alfredsson
Cullen - Fisher - Kovalev
Foligno - Winchester- Butler
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Defencemen:
Philips - Volchenkov
Sutton - Karlsson
Campoli - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Elliott
Leclaire

Healthy scratches:
- Shannon
- Donovan
- Lee

Injuries:
- Kuba (lower body, out indefinitely)
- Michalek (left knee, out indefinitely)

Carolina Hurricanes:

Projected lineup vs the Sens:

Forwards:
Boychuk - Staal - Larose
Whitney - Sutter - Cole
Jokinen - Dwyer - Bowman
Samsonov - Brind'Amour - Kostopolous

Defencemen:
Pitkanen - McBain
Harrison - Pothier
Rodney - Carson

Goaltenders:
Legace
Ward

Injuries:
- Casey Borer (broken neck, on IR, out indefinitely)
- Tim Gleason (broken right foot, exepcted to miss three weeks)
- Alexandre Picard (upper body, out indefinitely)
- Tuomo Ruutu (right shoulder surgery, will miss remainder of season)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009021153

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009021153

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20100401/Car@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=300401014

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Media Links:
- Clouston post practice presser from Thursday: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/100401_Clouston.mp3
- Clouston media availability from Wednesday: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/100331_Clouston.mp3
- Sens sign Bobby Butler to two-year contract: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=523157
- Sens recall Brian Lee from Bingo: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=523197
- SensTV On-line: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

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And don't forget...


GO SENS GO!!!

Twitter it up!

http://twitter.com/GMHockey/status/11365449282

Wow, if it's not Clutch or Prager we had Shabbs and his LEGENDARY GDTs here. GM is the place to get your GDT on!

Good work as usual Shabbs!

SpezDispenser wrote:Wow, if it's not Clutch or Prager we had Shabbs and his LEGENDARY GDTs here. GM is the place to get your GDT on!

Good work as usual Shabbs!

Thought I'd drop by and chip in... I'll let clutch or prager put up the poll...

Michalek and Volchenkov skating today:

http://twitter.com/ian_mendes/status/11370553110

Wow, no kidding around about Michalek coming back soon!

SpezDispenser wrote:Wow, no kidding around about Michalek coming back soon!

Alfie-like healing power?

shabbs wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Wow, no kidding around about Michalek coming back soon!

Alfie-like healing power?

Nah...no one has that but Alfalfa himself.

Update on Volchie and Michalek from Clouston:

http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens/status/11372211429

"Clouston: Volchenkov could possibly play tomorrow, but Michalek not until the last few games of the season."

Clouston presser from today:

http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/100331_Clouston.mp3

Volchie hopes to play tomorrow vs the 'Canes:

http://twitter.com/ian_mendes/status/11373500377

"Volchenkov spoke to the media today and says he hopes to play tomorrow vs Carolina. Said he doesn't remember the Sutton hit."

That must have been some hit.

Foligno will be on Hockeycentral @ Noon today on the Fan 590.

Poll added.

Volchenkov says he doesn't remember the Sutton hit. That sounds like he was knocked out cold.

Mendes tweeted that, if Karlsson didn't lose that 1st assists, he would have been the first NHL rookie defenseman *ever* to get 3 assists in consecutive games.

As long as he keeps assisting on Alfie goals I'm OK.