After a couple full days off, Daniel Alfredsson was back in his usual spot on the second line right wing with Nick Foligno and Kyle Turris. All players were present and accounted for at today’s skate with the exception of Ben Bishop who continue to nurse a minor lower body injury. Jesse Winchester was on the ice but wont play tomorrow afternoon.
Here is how the Sens lined up…
Greening-Spezza-Michalek
Foligno-Turris-Alfredsson
Daugavins-Smith-Condra
Klinkhammer-O'Brien-Neil
Kuba-Karlsson
Cowen-Gonchar
Phillips-Carkner
The Sens haven’t really been getting favours from anyone lately but Crosby and the Penguins could certainly help Ottawa’s cause with a win in Buffalo tonight. The Penguins are coming off back to back loses against the Islanders and should be a motivated group against the Sabres. Right?!
A Sabres win would pull them even with the Senators but Ottawa has the tiebreaker and a game in hand.
Sens fans will also be keeping a close eye on the Florida/Columbus game. Boy there is a sentence I didn’t expect to write this season. While Florida is still holding the division lead, they are just three points clear of Washington.
A reminder that puck drop is just after 1:00 PM tomorrow so be prepared to do some afternoon hockey watching/drinking.
- For those of you that missed it yesterday, be sure to join the Daniel Alfredsson tribute page on Facebook. A fan lead initiative will see Sens fans countdown from ten and chant Alfie at the next home game on Tuesday night.
________________________________________________________________________________
Bruins 94 (4)- @Nyi, @Nyr, PIT, @Ott, BUF
Panthers 90 (4)-@Det, WPG, @Wsh, CAR
Devils 94 (4)- @Car, NYI, @Det, OTT
Senators 88 (5)- @Phi, @Nyi, CAR, BOS, @Nj
Capitals 86 (4)- MTL, @Tbl, FLA, @Nyr
Sabres 86 (4)- @Tor, TOR, @Phi, @Bos
Go Sens Go and Go Pens Go (for tonight only on the pens)
3 of the caps final 4 are against teams out of the race
(or maybe that is a good thing)
And Sabres play Toronto twice back to back next week
I still think we are fine though, If caps grab 4 of a possible 8 points, we would just need 3 of a possible 10 points to be on top. and if we can win saturday, raise the gap to 4 points put some pressure on them
GO SENS, MAKE THE FAT LADY SING!
All that I see needed is to remove klink and insert winnie there and we have a great playoff grinding roster
daug-smith-condra
winnie-obrien-neil
those two lines will ground and pound you all game long. if they each play 8-12 minutes thats 20 minutes of fiierce playoff, intense hockey against the opposing team.
No easy shifts!!
Buffalo will probably win all 5 games. Pitts has not been playing well.. and with Johnson in net against Miller it's advantage Buffalo. Then 2 games against the Leafs... that's 2 easy wins. The last 2 games of the season are against Philly & Boston who will by then have their seating secured and will be resting players.
As for Wash -- the Habs could come in and beat them. They always seem to play well against the Caps (fingers crossed). Tampa - probably win for Caps. Florida is the key game the Caps need to lose. The Ranger game -- Rangers will be resting players...
It's up to the Sens to control where they finish.. Just win the games enough to get 95 pts.
http://scoreottawa.wordpress.com/
I hope your right (3 wins) but as you know the last time I was wrong was in the last century...I want 4 Wins...
BTW where's Lehner...are we (the SENs) having a nervous break down?
No way will Buffalo AND Washington win out. We don't need 95 points. Would be nice sure but by no means required. We could get 5 points the rest of the way and still make the playoffs.
I have to say, I really like the idea of keeping the pressure on late in the year. This team needs to keep that scrappy mentality and if they had clinched a spot already I'd be worried about overconfidence.
Having said that, we should go into every game thinking "must win" and then afterwards analyze if we really had to win after all (if we didn't). As fans we can (if we want) be less desperate but the boys should play every game as an elimination game until we're officially locked in.
Said his wife still has not had the baby and she is overdue...
It's important for Spezza to be there for the birth of his child... so with 4 days off.. why did they not induce her?
Let's hope she holds off until after this weekend... Sens also need Spezza in the lineup.
@Hax... I don't believe Wash wins out... but I think Buffalo could... they have been just about unstoppable the last 20 games.. came from deadlast in the conference to within 2 pts of 7th...
Binghamton.
Just watch.
Florida, too, I bet
The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Maple Leafs that day:
The score stood two to zero, with but one minute left to play.
And then when Bozak missed the net, and Lupul did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Kessel could get but a shot on net -
We'd put up even money, now, if Kessel was the bet.
But Grabo's line was on the ice, and Kessel on the bench,
And the ACC was filling up with a sickly, leaf-like stench;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
And Burkie looked on from above, his face all red and fat.
But Phaneuf let go a wrister, though it was mighty faint,
It slowly wobbled toward the goal, stopping in the paint;
And when the scramble ended, and the men saw what had occurred,
The goal horn was sounding, a sound not often heard.
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty call;
It rumbled through the subway, it rattled in the hall;
It knocked upon the concrete and recoiled upon the brick,
For Kessel, mighty Kessel, was reaching for his stick.
There was ease in Kessel's manner as he skated to his place;
There was pride in Kessel's bearing and a smile on Kessel's face.
And when, hearing the cheers, he thoughth "Gee, that's nice",
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Kessel on the ice.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he approaced the face-off dot;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he settled into his spot.
Then while the waiting linesman held the puck at his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Kessel's eye, a sneer curled Kessel's lip.
And now the puck is dropped and now Kessel lost the draw,
But Kessel just stood a-watching still basking in the awe.
Close by the flashy forward the puck unheeded sped-
"That ain't my style," said Kessel. "Leafs suck" a Sens fan said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the Sens fan!" shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Kessel raised his hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Kessel's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to his linemates, and once more the puck did pass;
But Kessel still ignored it, showing cockiness and sass.
"Shoot!" cried the maddened thousands, as time ticked off the clock;
But one scornful look from Kessel and the audience was in shock.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Kessel wouldn't let that puck go by again.
The sneer is gone from Kessel's lip, his teeth clenched like a vice;
He pounds with cruel violence his stick upon the ice.
And now the point man stops the puck, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Kessel's blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, perhaps not all of them but most;
But there is no joy in Toronto - mighty Kessel has hit the post.
SUCK IT PHANEUF!!!!
I hope this is a joke
OLD HORSE - BEATEN - DEAD !
LOL - got a title for it ?
LOL yeah really. Not only are Sens fans expert GMs, coaches and civil engineers - we're also experts on childbirth.
No sadly it's not.. other players' wives have done this once they are full term... If she goes too long.. they will do it anyway... Sounds cold I know... but it's happened before.. and it would be best for Spezza to be present for the birth of his child.
she should just go to the rink so he doesn't miss any hockey games, she could have the kid in a spare dressing room... the teams got doctors and i'm sure they could get a mid wife in the area to help out, sorry but we need spezza at the games. I'm being selfish i know but i'm serious!
If he has to miss a game due to the birth of his child, so be it go be with your wife and enjoy meeting your child for the first time.
Judging by the two ridiculous posts I seriously hope he doesn't miss a game because of the birth, or heaven forbid we lose that game, or even worse miss the playoffs. He will be crucified
She can give birth at the first intermission instead of the tim-bits kids.
Problem solved!
C'mon guys, I'm sure it was the right decision medically for her and the baby they'd have induced this week.
Can't believe we're discussing this - bring on Saturday!!!
On another topic, one thing to point out, I assume most of you know, Karlsson needs 5 pts to break Lidstrom's record for most points in a season by a Swedish defensemen... Let's hope he can do it.. Lidstrom was 35 when he set that record.
He is also 1 goal shy of setting the Sens goalscoring record by a defenseman held by Duchene..
It's amazing the season this 21 yr old is having... just think -- all he can do is just get better.
Or get worse...
#Sens prospect F Jakob Silfverberg had an empty net goal in Brynas's win today. In 9 #SEL playoff games - 7 goals 4 assists 11 points.
I guess the empty-net goal means he's useless like Michalek. Too bad.
Cheers to all. Im a little happy hour..umm, "happy" right now. so sorry for any spelling mistakes. Heres to a weekend of Sens victories. ciao!
http://youtu.be/lRZmVTUKhfA
Foligno is a STUD in that video, I hope he will play like that again on line 2!
I say start off with NHL experience especially if we meet the Rangers or Bruins in the first round.
Michalek-Spezza-Parrish
Foligno-Turris-Alfredsson
Greening-Smith-Condra
Winchester-O'Brien-Neil
Kuba-Karlsson
Cowen-Gonchar
Phillips-Carkner/Gilroy
Would love to see the Sens give Parrish a game or two at the end of the season if they can and rest up Alfie a game or two! Parrish has over 500+ games, 200+ goals and his shooting percentage is over 17% in his career. Sure would be an asset on the PP come playoff time!!
5 points should be enough to make it. The more the better.
LOL! Nice one, I almost spat on my laptop screen. Props to you sir.
Did you see the Leafs last night in front of the rookie goaltender? They were awful. Both Reimer & Gustaffson are hurt -- don't know Gustaffson's status for tomorrow.. he got injured in the warmup -- bruised knee.
I certainly hope you are right... two losses by both the Sabres & the Caps takes some of the pressure of the Sens. What Spezza said today is in interview was that this run to the playoffs is really good experience for the young guys on the team. It's almost like a playoff atmosphere.
All they have to do is get in. The pressure will not be on them to win anything.. that's when I think they could be a dangerous team to the right matchup... right Rangers?
LOL!
and i take back my comment from a week ago when i said in all of Silfver's game, the one slight problem could be his speed. (that is what scouts said..last year), if you watch the open net goal. he stole the puck from his defencive zone, skated his ass off all the way down to the other end of the ice, blew by both Dmen and gently sweeped the puck into the net.
and now im back to being stuck looking for his 1 problem.. im leaning towards his physical play but even then, he has the NHL size..
Actually, that is not the case...we were able to induce with our last baby on the sheer basis that we didn't want him to have the same birthday as his older brother.
If one doctor says no, there's always another that will say yes. practically every famous actress or singer schedules their delivery date by way of induction or c section.
usually only us anthem during u.s. team games
I assume that the game is in Buffalo.
Lots of Canucks go to NHL games there.
Playing the CNA is a nice gesture by the Sabres management.
80-90% of fans at joe louis arena are canadian and they only sing the us anthem, unless detroit plays a canadian team.
Indeed. Now an even nicer gesture would be for them to lose in regulation. GO PENS GO!
im at the 67s game, first time i get to see ceci and why he is being hyped as a top 10 pick...
well that drive on the net pretty much explained it all for me.
He's the real deal.
so 9 teams make the playoffs in the east this year???Realignm ent isn't til next year (if then)
Edit: Make is 4-2!
double edit: Did anyone else just see that goal that Buffalo just scored...I fear the Hockey gods are smiling on the sabres, that was so freakish!
Downright bizarre! Panthers trailing Columbus 3-1 late. They could be the wild card team in this race if they slump down the stretch.
Don't look now but it's 4-1 now! Looks like the pussy cats are entering a bit of a slump at the right time! :)
Speaking of bizzare, I don't think I have ever seen a second and third period without a break between them. Weird delay...
LMAO.
"Hey Mrs. Spezza. Could you please wait just one more day to give birth? The team really needs your husband to play today, so please try to suck up the pain of having to wait until the game is over, pleaseeeeeee?"
So smart.
And the Blue Jackets!
Caps have it over Florida.
Buffalo doesn't have the easiest schedule, 2 games vs Toronto aren't easy, spite Toronto's ability to look like shit. T.O. always seems to play hard with them, add in a game vs. Bos, the only downer on that is that Turco could be in net, but he also could be in net for Ottawa too.
Should be interesting regardless.
And for Florida for losing to help 'plan C'.
I think you mean 5pts in 5 games.
COME ON BOYS LET'S TAKE HOME THE PHUCKING CUP!!!!!!!!!!
Peace.
I honestly thought he could have taken Greening's place (ie the first liner who isn't REALLY a top line player) any time.
Liked the humour in this article ("Right!?" and "Boy there is a sentence...").
Also, "humongous big"? I like your site, so don't take this the wrong way, but that redundancy gave me a chuckle ;D
Haha that was a shout-out to Ilya "Universe" Bryzgalov. Kind of a running joke since the 24/7 series. I certainly hope some people got that and not everyone assumed that was a legitimate attempt at a sentence!
He was by far the best player on the ice tonight.
is that 24/7 worth watching?
Ok I'm shouting now but you get my point...I think the Leafs really have something to prove tomorrow as well, they need to put this home losing streak to bed at some point, and what better time than to do than right now.
That will also add to the humiliation of their entire season. They will beat Buffalo once (hopefully twice) and inadvertently push the Senators into the playoffs...
GO LEAFS GO! wtf?
"We've been rebuilding for 44 fucking years!"
lol! Makes me laugh every time.
Crazy Crazy stuff, but another Go Leafs Go
I have to justify that with the more they win now the worse their 1st pick could be and we want them to have the points over our competition.