GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins - 7:00pm ET - Wed. Feb. 13th, 2013

shabbs wrote:Pens have lost two in a row. Back to back losses over the weekend to the Devils. Fleury and Vokoun each got starts. I'm sure Fleury will be back in nets today.

We'll see if PMac goes with The One again. I hope he does. Last time we took Anderson out after he got hot, we got tagged with a loss.

tim1_2 wrote:No Letang for the Pens.

This will be a tough one with the whole "no rest" thing. I assume will start for us, which means we automatically have the upper hand.

SENATORS (7-4-2) at PENGUINS (8-5-0)

TV: TSN, ROOT

Last 10: Ottawa 4-4-2, Pittsburgh 6-4-0

Season series: This is the second of three meetings. On Jan. 27, the Penguins won 2-1 in a shootout at Ottawa after the teams combined for 66 shots. Six of the past 25 games between the teams have gone past regulation. The last meeting of this season is April 22.

Big story: After getting swept in a home-and-home weekend series by the New Jersey Devils, the Penguins took a day off Monday and had a rare full practice Tuesday. The consecutive 3-1 losses knocked Pittsburgh from first place in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa comes to Pittsburgh after beating the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on Tuesday. The Senators won their first two without Jason Spezza, who hasn't played since that first game with the Penguins, before losing 1-0 twice and 2-1 once this month.

The teams are tied for third in the East with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Team Scope:

Senators: Ottawa improved its league-leading goals-against average to 1.69 with Tuesday's shutout. Goalie Craig Anderson made 42 saves to lower his goals-against average to 1.36.

"[Craig] played very well, obviously, with 42 shots … but I thought there were a number of second and third chances that we cleared away that were dangerous ones, especially when we were taking penalties in the third period which makes it hard," coach Paul MacLean said.

The Senators had two days off prior to Tuesday and have two days off after Wednesday, so Anderson could be called on to play back-to-back here.

Erik Karlsson's shorthanded goal gave him a team-leading six overall. It broke a scoreless drought of 120:54.

"I thought our team played better after we scored the goal, but at the same time, did a great job playing the full 60 minutes," MacLean said. "It was a real good team win."

Penguins: Pittsburgh had won five in a row, outscoring opponents 23-8, before its recent two losses.

"I think we just need to play a little bit more in the opponents' zone," Sidney Crosby said Tuesday. "Our offensive-zone time has got to get a little bit better. I think we saw on the weekend that's something that kind of went against the way we wanted to play. [The Devils] played a lot of time in our end. That's something we usually pride ourselves on, so I think we want to improve in that area."

Defenseman Kris Letang could return from a lower-body injury, but it's more likely he comes back Friday against the Jets in Winnipeg.

In the three games including when he was injured against the Washington Capitals on Super Bowl Sunday, the Penguins' power play was 6-for-10. Since Letang's been out, it's gone 2-for-9.

"I think we were doing really good things. ... We found a setup that we had all good spots," Letang said. "It was just a coincidence that I got hurt there. But we'll keep working on it."

Who's hot: Senators forward Kyle Turris has an assist in seven of his past 10 games, but hasn't scored a goal in nine. Karlsson has a goal in three of his past four. … Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has eight assists in the past seven games.

Injury report: Spezza (back) could return by the end of the regular season. Forward Peter Regin (upper body) is on injured reserve. … Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen (lower body) could return by the weekend.

wprager wrote:Looking at Karlsson's numbers, he leads the league in SOG and leads his team in +/-. The Sens, especially the last 5-6 games have had trouble finishing. Karlsson could easily have a half dozen more assists just in those last few games. He is second on the team in scoring as it is.

NEELY wrote:

wprager wrote:Looking at Karlsson's numbers, he leads the league in SOG and leads his team in +/-. The Sens, especially the last 5-6 games have had trouble finishing. Karlsson could easily have a half dozen more assists just in those last few games. He is second on the team in scoring as it is.

If the forwards could finish off with any consistency Karlsson would be leading D men in overalls coring and not just goals. The guy is the Norris trophy runaway right now. It's not even close.