Game Day - Montreal @ Ottawa, 7:30PM, Friday, Movember 4, 2011

VS
Who: Montreal Canadiens @ Ottawa Senators
When: Friday, Movember 4, 2011 @ 7:30PM
Where: Watch it on Sportsnet East (HD), RDS (HD) or TSN-Habs (HD?)

Ottawa (7-6-0)

The Senators' 6 game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup Bruins. Tied 3-3 in a game they had not right to be tied in, the Sens surrendered two goals in about a half minute and that was it. Although Craig Anderson's heroics kept them in the game and allowed a mini come-back (they entered the third period down by one), those two quick goals definitely did not sit well with him or the team. As good as he was, he just has to be better or we just might see Lehner up here for a longer stint (statistically speaking, Lehner is the only Sens goalie with a SV% above .900 and that just isn't good enough).

Daniel Alfredsson has been cleared for light workouts but will not suit up tonight or Saturday, as he still suffers from dizzy spells doing mundane things like playing with the kids (all that head-scratching from Shanahan's "decision" is probably not helping matters, either). The Sens will have to rely on Spezza, Karlsson, Gonchar and Phillips, among others, to provide leadership on and off the ice while the Captain recovers.

Robin Lehner was sent back to Bingo as Alex Auld is ready to take over as the backup. The "Rooster" is still in Bingo following a painful extraction of some wisdom teeth. Filatov will be keeping his third-line left-wing spot warm until he returns.

Team Leaders:

Goals: Milan Michalek (2)
Assists: Erik Karlsson (12)
Points: Jason Spezza (15)
PIMs: Zenn Konopka (54)
SOG: Jason Spezza (41)

Players-to-Watch:
Craig Anderson wants to rebound from what has been a season-long bout with inconsistency. His record is not bad, but his stats could and should be better. The team is 3rd in goals but last in goals allowed.

Nikita Filatov might be getting an extended try out with Alfredsson, Regin and now Daugavins all out. Regin has another 6 weeks to go and there is no timetable for Alfie's return. K-Daug should be back in a few days, and until then it looks like Filatov has been moved up to his 3rd line left-wing position. He *has to* make an impression, whether he scores or not he has to create chances or else he will, once again, find himself Bingo-bound.

Jason Spezza has been held off the scoreboard for two straight games. Without Alfredsson on the 2nd line the other teams will put all their attention on the top line, and that puts Spezza squarely in the spotlight. Are you ready for your close up, Mr. Spezza?

Starting Line-up:

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno - Stephane Da Costa - Bobby Butler
Nikita Filatov - Zack Smith - Chris Neil
Erik Condra - Zenon Konopka - Jesse Winchester

Chris Phillips - David Rundblad
Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Sergei Gonchar - Jared Cowen

Craig Anderson

Injuries:

Daniel Alfredsson, Matt Carkner, Peter Regin

Montreal (4-5-2)

The Habs are riding a 3-game winning streak, led by improved play from Price (1.33 GAA during the winning streak). Price is also 4-0-0 with two shutouts in his last 5 appearances in Ottawa. While Ottawa lost their last game against the Champs, the Habs' last two games consisted of a sweep of a home-and-home series against the Bruins. The once powerful powerplay is sputtering at a 13.3% efficiency, and the 83% penalty kill is decent, but not overwhelming. Of course with 3 of their 4 wins coming in their last three games it's probably true that those stats are skewed by Montreal's slow start. The Habs may not score a lot of goals, but with Price in goal they are content to win 2-1.

Team Leaders:

Goals: Tomas Plekanec (4)
Assists: Josh Gorges (6)
Points: Tomas Plekanec (9)
PIMs: Travis Moen (22)
SOG: Max Pacioretty (41)

Players-to-Watch:

Starting Line-up:

Injuries:

Scott Gomez (upper body), and Ryan White (sports hernia), Chris Campoli (leg) and Andrei Markov (knee)


GO SENS GO!!!!!

OK, I *really* have to get things moving or we'll all be late (kids to school, me to work). Could someone fill-in the Habs lines and players to watch, please? Plus anything else you could think of adding.

NHL.com Game Day Preview: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2011020180

This one should be a good game. The Sens are fully capable of beating the Habs even without Alfi. This is a bigger game than I think anyone really realizes, if they keep ahead of the Habs, Bruins, and can pull ahead of the Sabres, they are in good shape still.

Big game. Need to avoid the "two losses in a row" and keep the team focussed.

NEELY wrote:This one should be a good game. The Sens are fully capable of beating the Habs even without Alfi. This is a bigger game than I think anyone really realizes, if they keep ahead of the Habs, Bruins, and can pull ahead of the Sabres, they are in good shape still.

Absolutely. However Price is 4-0-0 in his last 5 starts in Ottawa. He needs to see a lot of the backsides of Greening, Foligno, Neil and others instead of the puck. I'm OK if he only sees the puck bathed in the glow of the red light behind him, as he's fishing it out from the back of his net.

The Sens have slipped from 4th to 6th and their 2 point lead over Buffalo is very slim, considering that Buffalo holds two games in hand. Maybe Calgary can do us a favour tonight by beating the Sabres at home, but it will be the second game in two nights. Mind you, riding a high after beating Detroit, you never know. It's been a crazy season, so far. Anything can happen.

shabbs wrote:Big game. Need to avoid the "two losses in a row" and keep the team focussed.

Thank you Ron Wilson

shabbs wrote:Big game. Need to avoid the "two losses in a row" and keep the team focussed.

If there's anything sweeter than beating the Leafs at home, it's beating the Habs at home. I think I find the Habs fans even more annoying than Leaf fans, mostly due to their bizarre adoption of the soccer song "Ole".

We need this as a smiley:

wprager wrote:

NEELY wrote:This one should be a good game. The Sens are fully capable of beating the Habs even without Alfi. This is a bigger game than I think anyone really realizes, if they keep ahead of the Habs, Bruins, and can pull ahead of the Sabres, they are in good shape still.

Absolutely. However Price is 4-0-0 in his last 5 starts in Ottawa. He needs to see a lot of the backsides of Greening, Foligno, Neil and others instead of the puck. I'm OK if he only sees the puck bathed in the glow of the red light behind him, as he's fishing it out from the back of his net.

The Sens have slipped from 4th to 6th and their 2 point lead over Buffalo is very slim, considering that Buffalo holds two games in hand. Maybe Calgary can do us a favour tonight by beating the Sabres at home, but it will be the second game in two nights. Mind you, riding a high after beating Detroit, you never know. It's been a crazy season, so far. Anything can happen.

Like everything else I said, one game at time. Streaks don't mean anything other than a good headline. Teams that play one game at a time, that don't look forward and don't look behind, win games. 6 game win streak, who cars? Price undfeated in 5 in Ottawa, who cares. Nov 4, 2011... that's all that matters and I think that's what MacLean has implimented in the team.

If they look at the standings too much or they think about games they just played or will play, they won't win. Take what they are learning in practice and play it one shift, one period, on game at a time. They do that, they will be fine.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:Big game. Need to avoid the "two losses in a row" and keep the team focussed.

Thank you Ron Wilson

He's 100% right though.

Peggy predict Sens win in landslide. Sens score more goals than satisfied customers of USA Prime Credit

K-Daug has been recalled by the Sens. My guess is it's for tomrrow night's game. Tovarich Filatov, you have 60 minutes left in your audition for the top-six.

Peggy wrote:Peggy predict Sens win in landslide. Sens score more goals than satisfied customers of USA Prime Credit

Solid prediction!

wprager wrote:K-Daug has been recalled by the Sens. My guess is it's for tomrrow night's game. Tovarich Filatov, you have 60 minutes left in your audition for the top-six.

Nah, they will probably keep Daugavins in that 3rd line winger slot. Filatov basically has until Alfi comes back to get a real shot at sticking. If he doesn't make a positive impression soon, he will be back in Bingo for a while yet and what happens after that, who knows. Russia might be his only option in his mind. Can't see him wanting to grind it out in the AHL much longer.