GAME DAY: Ottawa @ Buffalo, 7:00PM, Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Season series: Tuesday's matchup is the third of six meetings between these Northeast Division rivals, who square off two more times in December. These clubs played twice in a six-day span in early November, with Buffalo continuing its recent success over the Senators. The Sabres have won six straight over the Sens, including four in a row at home. On Nov. 5 in Ottawa, Derek Roy scored a goal in regulation and again in the sixth round of the shootout to give Buffalo a 3-2 victory. On Nov. 11 at the First Niagara Center, Roy notched a goal and two assists, Drew Stafford posted three assists and Jhonas Enroth made 36 saves in the Sabres' 5-1 win. Enroth was the winning goaltender in both affairs, while Craig Anderson took the loss in each contest -- and was pulled in the second meeting after allowing two goals on six shots in the first 2:25.

Big Story: Both teams have just three wins in their last 10 games. After turning some heads in the first month of the season, the Senators are now a .500 club, having lost three in a row and going 1-3-2 in their last six. For the Sabres, home has not been so sweet, dropping seven of their last nine games at the First Niagara Center. Overall, Buffalo has not won back-to-back games since a four-game winning streak from Nov. 4-11.

Senators: The Senators gave five man-advantage opportunities to the top-ranked power play in the League on Saturday, and it cost them. Vancouver visited Scotiabank Place and scored two power-play goals en route to a 4-1 victory, as Ottawa's lone goal came from Colin Greening. The Sens had five chances on the power play as well, but could not convert -- they didn't even register a shot on a two-man advantage for 1:18 early in the third period when they trailed 3-1. "When it comes down to it, their power play was better than ours," coach Paul MacLean said. "We're always concerned when we don't win. I think the way that we did it tonight, we played hard against a real good team. We played them physical but there are still areas of our game that have to get better."

Sabres: Buffalo is 1-1-1 on its current five-game homestand, which has featured three of the toughest teams in the Eastern Conference. After a loss to Philadelphia and a win over Florida (both decisions came in overtime), the Sabres were defeated by the Rangers 4-1 on Saturday to fall to 7-9-2 at home. Only 1:04 after New York took a 1-0 lead, Thomas Vanek responded with his team-leading 14th goal of the season to knot the score midway through the second. But Vanek's tally was the only one of Buffalo's 33 shots to elude former Sabre Martin Biron, as the Rangers controlled play from that point. The Sabres fell behind 2-1 late in the period when they surrendered their second shorthanded goal of the stanza. Two more New York goals in the third -- including one on the power play -- provided the final margin. Enroth was in goal for the first time in just over a week and suffered his third consecutive loss. The Swedish netminder, who won his first six decisions this season, has dropped six of his last seven. "The last couple of games have been a little worse than the beginning of the year," Enroth said. "Hockey goes up and down, just like normal life. So it's nothing I'm walking around and thinking about. I always trust myself and trust my skills."

Injury Report: Ottawa welcomed a couple of players back into the lineup on Saturday. Forward Peter Regin played his first game since Oct. 20 and defenseman Matt Carkner made his season debut. With those two players suiting up, that leaves Filip Kuba (upper body) on IR, while Sergei Gonchar (upper body) missed Saturday's game and is day-to-day. … The injury-riddled Sabres could be getting some players back soon as well. Coach Lindy Ruff told the team’s website that forwards Paul Gaustad (upper body) and Patrick Kaleta (groin) are close to returning, and he "expects one or even both to be back sometime this week." Ruff also said there is a possibility that defenseman Mike Weber (upper body) will play against Ottawa. There is still no timetable for the return of Tyler Myers (broken wrist), who remains sidelined along with Brad Boyes (knee), Nathan Gerbe (head), Corey Tropp (upper body) and Jochen Hecht (lower body).

- via NHL.com

And he beats Cap'n "not-so-early-riser" Clutch to the punch.

No Carkner?

tim1_2 wrote:No Carkner?

I used old lines, I'll put him in as the #7 for now, but let's say it's subject to change (as is K-dawg on the top line among others).

Another fine GDT!

Pretty close to a must win right now if they want to stay in that playoff race. An extended losing streak will end a lot of hope geared towards the playoffs.

Not to rain on the playoff parade, but let's face it, it's still a distant longshot. Sure, we're only one point out of being tied for 8th right now, but we're also in 12th spot, with the 11th, 10th, and 9th place teams also battling for that spot. Also, under-performing Tampa Bay is 4 points back of us, and you gotta think that they'll get it together soon.

The teams occupying 7th and 8th are Buffalo and Washington respectively - two teams you would also think should be on the upswing soon (Washington has won their past two). The best hope any of the non-playoff teams have right now might be the Leafs (6th place) coming back to reality. They currently have 33 points, whereas teams 9 through 12 have 30 or 31 points.

We all knew that the playoffs were a dream coming in to this season, and nothing has changed. We expected this team to be fairly competitive on most nights, and that's exactly what they've been. If we were given the option, a couple months ago, of being 13-13-4 after 30 games, I think we all would've taken that considering the horrible start we got off to.

Just wanted to keep people's expectations in check as we slog through a tough stretch of hockey.

Who invited Debbie Downer? Or do you prefer Buzz Killington?

tim1_2 wrote:Not to rain on the playoff parade, but let's face it, it's still a distant longshot. Sure, we're only one point out of being tied for 8th right now, but we're also in 12th spot, with the 11th, 10th, and 9th place teams also battling for that spot. Also, under-performing Tampa Bay is 4 points back of us, and you gotta think that they'll get it together soon.

The teams occupying 7th and 8th are Buffalo and Washington respectively - two teams you would also think should be on the upswing soon (Washington has won their past two). The best hope any of the non-playoff teams have right now might be the Leafs (6th place) coming back to reality. They currently have 33 points, whereas teams 9 through 12 have 30 or 31 points.

We all knew that the playoffs were a dream coming in to this season, and nothing has changed. We expected this team to be fairly competitive on most nights, and that's exactly what they've been. If we were given the option, a couple months ago, of being 13-13-4 after 30 games, I think we all would've taken that considering the horrible start we got off to.

Just wanted to keep people's expectations in check as we slog through a tough stretch of hockey.

No, they suck, haha. 67 year old goaltender, no defense, 3 forwards, and a coach that uses the 1-3-1 with a team that can't stop the goals from going in their own net. Last year was a fluke, the 3 previous seasons were not.

Anything can happen in terms of the spots 6-12. One injury, one bad streak, one good streak, w/e, The way the Sens are playing and the injuries that are piling up though, yah, they might be in tough. They need to get some wins and get going here for them to have a shot.

wprager wrote:Who invited Debbie Downer? Or do you prefer Buzz Killington?

Sorry. Still, if you figure that one of the teams 8 through 12 will make the playoffs, that still gives us a 20% shot, which is pretty good, given expectations at the start of the year!!!!!!!!!

GO SENS GO!!!

Squash those slugs.

Damn 7pm exams

We are getting

I assume this is on Sportsnet?

Tonight is Foligno's 300th game..and in Buffalo to boot.

Little Bobby B gets Boot in Buffalo

“Zenon has played well for us on that fourth line,” said coach Paul MacLean, who wants to use Konopka’s faceoff skills to get puck possession. “We tried to have Bobby stay around and shoot some pucks today, to see if he can shoot some in the net.”

Bobby needs some confidence. Once a couple go in for him, they'll come fast and furious.

Like Vin Diesel with a bunch of men.