GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ Buffalo Sabres - 7:00pm ET - Fri. Apr. 5th, 2013

As promised in the last GDT if the Sens lost... Darcy is back. Ugh. But... will Anderson be back? Bishop was traded to TBay for Cory Conacher at the deadline so now we have our goalies set for the season... Anderson and Lehner. Bishop put up a shutout last night for the Bolts, nice to see him get a good start. Conacher will make his Sens debut today. Hopefully he can help provide a bit of a spark to the Sens offense and provide some grit up front.

GO SENS GO!!!

Way to take one for the team. Here's hoping they go on a 12 game winning streak to close out the season

Oh Darcy...

Seriously, there's no way we don't win this game. Buffalo sucks, and now they don't have notorious Sens killer Derek Roy and they are also without Jason Pominville.

By the way, don't look now, but that 6th seed doesn't look all that great right now. Washington is on a roll with 15 points in their last 10 games -- that's 2nd best in the league. Only Pittsburgh (8-0-2, 16 points) has more, and since they are on a 2 game losing streak they really aren't hot. Pittsburgh is hosting the Rangers tonight after shellacking them 6-1 at MSG, so the Rags will have a little extra incentive to return the favor. And Washington's next game is Saturday night against Florida -- by the start of next week Washington may well be the hottest team in the entire league.

tim1_2 wrote:Oh Darcy...

Seriously, there's no way we don't win this game. Buffalo sucks, and now they don't have notorious Sens killer Derek Roy and they are also without Jason Pominville.

Vanek is "doubtful" and Leino is "questionable" -- both with UBI.

NHL.com Gameday Preview

SENATORS (19-11-6) at SABRES (14-17-6)

TV: SNET-E, TVA, MSG-B

Last 10: Ottawa 6-3-1; Buffalo 4-3-3

Season series: Fourth and final meeting of the regular season between these Northeast Division rivals. Ottawa will be aiming for the sweep. Kyle Turris leads all scorers with five points, including the overtime goal in the most recent matchup, a 4-3 win in Buffalo on March 16.

Big story: Craig Anderson, who hasn't played since Feb. 21 but still leads the NHL in goals-against average (1.49) and save percentage (.952) could be back for the Senators. On the other side, the Sabres begin a stretch in which they play eight of their final 11 games at First Niagara Center, but their uphill climb in the standings got a little steeper with Wednesday's trade of Jason Pominville.

Team Scope:

Senators: Anderson's return to health and the emergence of Robin Lehner as the goalie of the future allowed Ottawa to move Ben Bishop at the deadline for scoring help in Cory Conacher. Barring an extreme hot or cold streak, it appears the Senators will probably be battling the rival Maple Leafs for the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, and if the rookie Conacher can rediscover his early scoring touch it would be a huge boost for a team that's lost Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek, and is in the bottom third of the League averaging 2.42 goals per game.

"It's very important for me to play hard, play the same way and do whatever it takes for the team to win and for me to be a part of that win," Conacher told the Ottawa Sun upon his acquisition.

Sabres: It was one of the more high-profile victories by an NHL team this season, but Buffalo's 4-1 triumph on Tuesday that snapped Pittsburgh's 15-game winning streak won't mean a whole lot in the long run if the Sabres can't string together some more solid efforts back on home ice. They still have a handful of teams to climb over if they're to gain eighth in the East, and although they got a nice haul in return for their former captain -- goalie Matt Hackett, forward Johan Larsson and two high draft picks -- they are also now without Pominville's 10 goals, 25 points and valued leadership abilities.

"It's not fun being where we are," general manager Darcy Regier said. "It doesn't matter if you're a fan or you're in my position, there's no enjoyment out of it. But there is an opportunity. What we're going to do is seize on the opportunity."

Who's hot: Colin Greening has goals in three of the past four games and Andre Benoit has goals in two of the past three for the Senators. … Kevin Porter scored his first two goals of the season on Tuesday for the Sabres. Ryan Miller, who survived the deadline still in a Buffalo uniform, has a .935 save percentage over his past five starts, allowing two goals or fewer in four of them.

Injury report: Anderson (ankle) could be back for Ottawa, whose injured reserve list currently includes Spezza (back), Karlsson (Achilles), Michalek (knee) and Jared Cowen (hip). Mike Hoffman (upper body) is day-to-day. … Buffalo's leading scorer, Thomas Vanek, has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. Ville Leino (upper body) and Alexander Sulzer (knee) are also sidelined.

tim1_2 wrote:Oh Darcy...

Seriously, there's no way we don't win this game. Buffalo sucks, and now they don't have notorious Sens killer Derek Roy and they are also without Jason Pominville.

They've been gutted... Sens gotta take advantage and get rolling into the post season.

ESPN.com Gameday Preview

Senators-Sabres Preview

The Ottawa Senators were buyers at the trade deadline, dealing from strength to bolster a rotation of forwards still thin due to injuries.

The Buffalo Sabres were sellers, continuing the early stages of what appears to be a rebuilding phase.

The Northeast Division rivals meet Friday night in Buffalo, where the Senators will get their first look at newly acquired rookie Cory Conacher against a Sabres squad moving on from dealing Jason Pominville.

Despite No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson suffering a sprained ankle Feb. 21, the Senators (19-11-6) were able to hold their ground in the playoff race behind Ben Bishop and AHL call-up Robin Lehner. Anderson is now healthy enough to play, though coach Paul MacLean did not name a starter for this game after practice Thursday even though Bishop is gone from the roster.

The Senators, still missing top forwards Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek due to injuries, dealt Bishop to Tampa Bay on Wednesday for Conacher and a fourth-round pick in 2013.

"I'm a guy who likes to be first on the puck and in the corners and dig for loose pucks and create turnovers and finish checks and skate hard and back check hard and be responsible on the ice," Conacher told the team's official website. "I think Ottawa is a team that's working on a lot of those things and they have a lot of players who do those things which will be a good fit for me."

Conacher's 24 points trail only Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau among all rookies and are two more than anyone on Ottawa. MacLean put Conacher on a line with fellow rookies Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad in Thursday's practice, teaming together three of the league's top 13 first-year scorers.

"We're trying to find the best place for him to have success early," MacLean said. "He's been good on the power play and that's something we need as well."

The Senators opened a seven-game road trip Tuesday with a 3-2 loss at Boston in a rare free-wheeling game that was also normal in it being decided by one goal. Lehner made a career-high 47 saves as Ottawa fell to 9-7-6 in one-goal games.

The game was "way too wide open for us" in the first period, forward Erik Condra said after his team matched a season high with 47 shots. "After that it was a good game both ways. We struggled in the first and just never got it back."

Buffalo (14-17-6) is last in the Northeast, 10 points behind Ottawa, and general manager Darcy Regier has been retooling his roster. Wednesday's move may have been the biggest, shipping captain Jason Pominville and a 2014 draft pick to Minnesota for prospects Johan Larsson and Matt Hackett plus two draft picks.

"It's going to involve rolling back a little bit organizationally," said Regier, who had previously dealt defensemen Robyn Regehr and Jordan Leopold for picks. "Acquire the assets, the players, the draft picks and do it in a way that's going to allow us to group enough young players together, or players together, in order to win a championship."

The Sabres snapped a four-game losing streak -- and Pittsburgh's 15-game win streak -- with a 4-1 road victory Tuesday behind two goals from Kevin Porter.

Ottawa has won all three games between the teams this season, and Kyle Turris' power-play goal with 1:06 left in overtime provided a 4-3 victory at Buffalo in the most recent meeting March 16. Anderson had a season-high 42 saves in a 2-0 victory Feb. 12, his fifth straight win over the Sabres.

We're 5 pts clear of 9th...need to keep some cushion!

A lot of deadline deals are paying off dividends immediately. Bishop's 45-save shutout, Gaborik scoring a goal and an assist to lead the Jackets over Nashville, Jagr's tally in a 1-0 Boston win. Let's see if the Little Train that Could can keep this trend going.

Not to mention Clowe, Brassard, and even Robyn Regehr had an assist and was +2 for the Kings last night.

Mendes: You think this is a good weekend to start Craig Anderson? He's 5-0-0 in last 5 starts vs BUF. And he's 8-0-0 in last 8 starts vs FLA.

ENTER THE MATRIX, YOU BUFFALO Wing Dang Doodle!

Does Lehner start tonight and have Anderson face his old team on Sunday?

I think and Lehner certainly split these two games. Maybe give Lehner the game tonight just to let have a couple extra recovery days.