GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Washington Capitals - 7:00pm EST - Mon. Oct. 11th, 2010

The Sens are coming off an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the cross-province rival Maple Leafs and are in danger of going 0-3 to start the new season. The Senators defense is giving up an alarming number of shots and have been guilty of running around in their zone on many occasions. It's not going to get any easier against a skilled, fast team like the Capitals. With all the offensively-gifted defensemen in the lineup (Gonchar, Karlsson, Campoli) the Senators have managed to get 2 goals in 2 games, while giving up 7; and, let's face it, the 2-1 score in the Buffalo game could have been a lot more one-sided had it not been for Leclaire's heroics. It's easy to say that we have a new defenseman (Gonchar), are missing our top-minutes guy from last year (Kuba) and every pairing is new, but Gonchar and Phillips have tons of experience and are relied on to be the steadying influence on their young partners; this has not (yet) been the case.

The forwards have not exactly distinguished themselves early on. Top cetner Jason Spezza missed the Buffalo game with a tweaked groin, then came back against the Leafs and gave the puck away in his first shift: 1-0 Leafs. Michalek must not have fully recovered from his ACL surgery, or from a pre-season "lower body" injury, as he has been noticeably slow in the first two games. Regin has looked like a 3rd line AHL call up; Fisher doesn't look like he knows what he is supposed to be doing on the ice; Kovalev is Kovalev; and Foligno was nominated for the "Bochenski" award after getting 4 goals in his first 3 pre-season games and nothing since then.

It's too early to hit the panic button, but opening the season with zero points against division rivals puts a wrinkle in their plans of finishing the season atop the North East. And it's not like the team has played well (or even shown signs of improvement). Looking at the side-by-side stats comparison between the Senators and the Capitals (see the preview link, below), Washington leads in every single category except for face offs.

Here is GM Byran Murray's take on the 0-2 start (click the quote for the full article):
"A tough start is a tough start. It's tough to catch up and you do have to win a lot of games. We have been a streaky team and we certainly talked to a couple of players and the coach today about that."

Game Coverage:
- TV: SNET-O (HD), CSN-DC (HD)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: to be added

Team Lineups :
DailyFaceoff.com links not updated -- note says it's at the top of their priorities list.

TSN's Ice Chips:

Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/icechips/

Ottawa Senators:
Everyone for the Sens was skating in yesterday's practice (if you recall, Kovalev got hurt in the Leafs game).

Injuries:
Kuba (broken leg - 3-4 weeks)

Washington Capitals:

Varlamov (groin) appeared to be moving easily, facing shots during morning practice. Boudreau expects him to play this week.

Injuries:
Semyon Varlamov (groin) - expected to play this week

Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2010020032

Media Links:
- Clouston speaks to media: http://bit.ly/aZWOOK
- Clouston post-practice: http://bit.ly/bIvTwF
- Leclaire post game (Leafs) interview: http://bit.ly/aQITjg
- Clouston post-game (Leafs): http://bit.ly/bHnmtg
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

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

GO SENS GO!!!

It's turkey time. In bowling, three strikes in a row is called a Turkey. The Sens are 0-2 and, if you mark losses with Xs (like strikes in bowling) then they are in danger of getting a Turkey. Appropriate, given that today is Canadian Thanksgiving, but I'm OK with being inappropriate as well.

You know it's a weird season when the two teams that finished 29 and 30 last year are off to a 2-0 start.

Here's a game preview from a Washington beat writer:
http://capitals.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2010020032

Neuvirth is the likely starter, with Sabourin as the backup.

Another interesting and completely useless fact: Apparently all of the 0-2 teams have been in the Cup Finals in the last 4 years.

Ovechkin has 30 points in 20 games versus Sens. And that's with A-Train blocking all his shots. We need a poll.

Wow, Panzeri really lets Karlsson have it:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/Karlsson+mirror+struggling+team/3652798/story.html

After a terrific run in the 2010 National Hockey League playoffs, it seemed as if the 20-year-old defenceman had arrived as a player. Consequently, there were big expectations for Karlsson as the season opened.

However, he appears to be dining out on his press clippings. He's not the only Senator who has played poorly in the team's first two games, both losses, but he has been one of the worst. He hasn't competed hard, he has looked disinterested at times, especially about playing defence, and he has made some appalling decisions on the ice.

And Garrioch's latest blog continues the trend: Anybody seen the Senators?

The Senators have a lot to work on. They haven’t looked anything close to what anybody expected. Now, let’s stop here for a second and give the Maple Leafs credit. They are a better team than they were last season. Looks to me like J.S. Giguere has instilled some confidence in that group. Of course, it would have helped if the Senators had some scoring chances on him.
That is the worst part. They aren’t doing anything at either end of the ice. Coach Cory Clouston can draw what he wants on the chalkboard. He can’t hold the players hands while they do the job. You have to wonder what is going on here.
Erik Karlsson is the biggest mystery. He might want to remember he has a two-way contract. They don’t even need waivers to send him down. He keeps this up and he’ll be back riding buses in the AHL before he knows it. He’s been a riverboat gambler in the first two games and that’s just not acceptable.

You know what, I didn't want to say that, but it crossed my mind. Perhaps Sutton or a defensive type like that would have been a better plug than Karlsson right now, especially with Gonchar and Campoli playing so well.

But Karlsson's only a sophomore and the odds are against 2nd year players.

TSN's game preview says it all:

Who's hot (for Ottawa): No Hot Players
Who's cold (for Washington): No Cold Players

Let's hope the real Sens show up tonight... we know they're better than this. These first 10 games are pretty important in determining the rest of the season.

shabbs wrote:Let's hope the real Sens show up tonight... we know they're better than this. These first 10 games are pretty important in determining the rest of the season.

Yep, remember the Leafs last year.

The game tonight is on SportsNet Sens -- 500 (HD) on Rogers Ottawa.

Well boys cover your eyes because this one could get messy.

Smith moving to 2nd line according to Garrioch's tweet:

New look sens: Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson; Smith-Fisher-Foligno, Ruutu-Kelly-Neil and Shannon-Regin-Kovalev. Winchester looks like out.

And the defensive pairings are what they were at the end of the game Saturday night:

Phillips/Gonchar
Campoli/Carkner
Lee/Karlsson