GAME DAY:Florida Panthers @ Ottawa Senators - 7:00pm ET - WED. Feb. 23, 2011

The Ottawa Senators (19-31-9, 47 pts) host the Florida Panthers (25-27-7, 57 pts ) Wednesday night. Ottawa is coming off a 1-0 shoot out win. Yes that wasn't a mistake the Sens actually won a shoot out. That wasn't even the biggest story. This was the Craig Anderson show. Anderson stopped all 47 shots he faced through regulation and overtime and then stopped all 3 Leaf shooters. The other big story of the game was the loss of Peter Regin due to a shoulder injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Florida got their collective butts handed to them in a 5-1 loss at the hands of the fellow bottom feeder NY Isles and haven't played since that game on Monday so they've had plenty of time to think about that loss. Can Anderson stand on his head again?

Game Coverage:

TV: RDS, SNET-E(HD)
Radio: Team 1200
Web:ATDHEnet.tv and JUSTIN.tv

Latest updates:
Peter Regin is done for the season due to a shoulder injury. Daniel Alfredsson's back is not responding to treatment and remains day to day. Craig Anderson is expected to make his home debut against one of his former teams tonight.

Scott MacArthur suggesting Winchester not likely and Campoli likely will play.
Jim O'Brien at practice today. Alfredsson injury may be worse than originally thought and may even be out the rest of the season.



TSN's Ice Chips:

Ottawa
Florida

Ottawa Senators Key Injuries:

Daniel Alfredsson (back - Out indefinitely)
Jesse Winchester (Not likely to play tonight)
Matt Carkner (expected to play)
Sergei Gonchar (day to day)
Chris Campoli (Likely will play tonight)
Pascal Leclaire (Went to Binghamton to attempt to practice. It didn't work.)

Florida Panthers Key Injuries:

Shawn Matthias (broken ankle)
Byron Bitz (sports hernia)
Evgeny Dadonov (broken finger)
Dmitry Kulikov (ankle)

Game Day Previews:

NHL.com
ESPN

Media Links:

SensTV On-line
Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators

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GO SENS GO!!!

more importantly, if Anderson is in net and we lose, does the media roast him like they did Elliott?

Catching the Panthers at a bad (good) time. Might be just the kind of loss our team needs!

I'm actually enjoying watching the team again, on a sidenote. Nice to see different guys out there.

Let's hope Greening gets more of an offensive opportunity with Regin now out. Put him in a position to succeed, alongside, say, Kovalev and Foligno. I'm loving that combo of size and speed that he's bringing.

With the pending return of Winchester, one of the young guys will probably be sent back to Bingo. I hope it's not Greening.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:more importantly, if Anderson is in net and we lose, does the media roast him like they did Elliott?

Is the sky blue ?

I can see all the little tidbits by Sun Media, is he the next Gerber ? maybe we shouldn't have traded Elliott ....... etc

On the other hand Anderson may have plenty of motivation playing against his former team.

tim1_2 wrote:With the pending return of Winchester, one of the young guys will probably be sent back to Bingo. I hope it's not Greening.

With Regin out and Winchester returning I don't think any forwards get sent down. Benoit might go back though if Campoli is in the lineup.

Oh yeah, good point. I forgot that Regin went down in the TO game.

It'll be interesting to see what Winchester can do if given the second line Center spot.

Hoags wrote:

Number Twenty Nine wrote:more importantly, if Anderson is in net and we lose, does the media roast him like they did Elliott?

Is the sky blue ?

I can see all the little tidbits by Sun Media, is he the next Gerber ? maybe we shouldn't have traded Elliott ....... etc

On the other hand Anderson may have plenty of motivation playing against his former team.

I'm not totally sold on Anderson. I'm quite sure he can be a good to really great backup and at least a serviceable starter but to be a great starter I'm not yet convinced.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:
I'm not totally sold on Anderson. I'm quite sure he can be a good to really great backup and at least a serviceable starter but to be a great starter I'm not yet convinced.

Well after last season I think he can be a great starter. The Sens would really have to handle him correctly as well as the coaching staff etc. We have a full-time goalie coach here so he should have more support.

Ultimately we need a good backup so we have a plan B.

I think he's as good as it gets for Ottawa, so if he can't cut the mustard I don't think we can get anyone better.

I think he has the makings of a great starter. He has leadership skills that can't be taught.

Ottawa is poisonous atmosphere to goalies. Lalime was arguably our best goalie ever and they ran him out of town.

The media probably has a strong influence in this negativity though.

Number Twenty Nine wrote:
The media probably has a strong influence in this negativity though.

Yeah Murray even called them out in a recent press conference.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

Hoags wrote:

Number Twenty Nine wrote:more importantly, if Anderson is in net and we lose, does the media roast him like they did Elliott?

Is the sky blue ?

I can see all the little tidbits by Sun Media, is he the next Gerber ? maybe we shouldn't have traded Elliott ....... etc

On the other hand Anderson may have plenty of motivation playing against his former team.

I'm not totally sold on Anderson. I'm quite sure he can be a good to really great backup and at least a serviceable starter but to be a great starter I'm not yet convinced.

Who needs a 'great' starter? I mean, honestly, our starters since the lockout (Hasek minused) have been Emery, Gerber, Elliott, and Leclaire. Leclaire had the skill to be good, but he's made of glass. What we need is a serious upgrade on that mess we're leaving behind.

I'm not, and I don't think we in general should be, looking for a Luongo, Lundquist, or Bryzgalov out of Anderson. We're a rebuilding team, & Anderson is about the best guy available this year that we can expect to land. What we want is someone sturdy and solid back there -- a Niemi or Howard -- someone who can do the job, but isn't necessarily a miracle worker or a Savior. Just make the easy saves. If we get dominated & lose, so be it. But the soft-goal-a-game nonsense has to stop.

All things considered -- our rebuilding status, our undesirable location, the limited UFA options in next this year -- Anderson gives us the best shot at fixing the problem as best we can this year. Make is a short deal to give us options & to let Lehner know there's an opening for him if he can reach up and grab it. Otherwise, get this done.

rooneypoo wrote:Let's hope Greening gets more of an offensive opportunity with Regin now out. Put him in a position to succeed, alongside, say, Kovalev and Foligno. I'm loving that combo of size and speed that he's bringing.

Yeah, I'd give him a shot in the top 6. He's got every tool wanted.