With just three games left in their season, the Ottawa Senators have officially been eliminated from playoff contention and don’t have a whole lot left to play for other than pride and just closing the season on a positive note.
And after last night’s playoff clinching win by the Columbus Blue Jackets, the New Jersey Devils find themselves in the same position.
As much as the excitement has been taken out of these last few games, the Senators still sound like a motivated group that wants to finish the season strong. When you consider the fact that the Anaheim Ducks currently own the Sens first round pick in the Entry Draft this summer, it would be nice to finish as high in the standings as possible. And maybe even pass the Leafs along the way.
(UPDATE 11:28 AM) Based on the morning skate and it didn’tt look like there would be any changes to the line up but MacLean just spoke to the media and indicated that both Colin Greening and Mike Hoffman will play. Matt Kassian and Jean Gabriel Pageau will sit this one out. Here’s how the Coach is expected to line them up.
Michalek-Spezza-Hemsky
MacArthur-Turris-Stone
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Condra
Greening-Smith-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phillips-Gryba
Wiercioch-Ceci
Robin Lehner gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
The Daily Chirp- Something to keep an eye on this summer- there seems to be a bit of a rivalry building between the Ottawa Senators and the Buffalo Sabres and it has nothing to do with the on-ice competition. When Tim Murray left for Buffalo a couple months back, he did so with the blessing of the Senators organization but since then, there have been rumours that two organizations aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye. I tweeted about this back in January but it sounds like Tim Murray is hoping to bring some Ottawa staff along with him. I suspect we’ll hear more about this in the next couple months.
