If you haven’t looked at the Atlantic Division standings in the last couple days, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Sort of terrifying. Heading into tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils, the Senators sit just two points out of first place in the Division. Within striking distance! Oh and they’re three points up on 5th. We’re doooooomed. It’s that close right now.
This is why we saw some of the fan base unraveling a little bit on Sunday night and throughout most of yesterday. The possibility of playing without Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan for a significant period of time sent some people into a bit of a temporary tailspin.
The good news is that in the case of Stone and Hoffman, the injuries may not be as bad as we feared. Both players accompanied the team on the four game road trip which is certainly a good sign.
The Senators just wrapped up their game day skate and the line up remains a bit of a mystery. Mark Stone (neck) and Mike Hoffman (groin) won’t play and Wingels is considered questionable although he expects to play. Dion Phaneuf missed the morning skate but should be good to go for the game. Boucher also confirmed that the timeline on Ryan’s injury is 4-6 weeks. That would have him back in late-March or early-April.
A complete guess on the line up.
Smith-Brassard-Pyatt
Dzingel-Turris-Lazar
Kelly-Pageau-Bailey
McCormick-Wingels-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Craig Anderson is expected to get the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
-Yesterday, the Senators announced they’ve signed defenceman Fredrik Claesson to a one year contract extension. It’s a one way deal too. Claesson has been in and out of the line up a lot this year but has looked good in the opportunities provided. Certainly looks like an everyday NHLer at this point in his career. His NHL salary actually declines slightly ($700K to $650K) but in exchange, he gets the first one way contract of his career. The timing of the move is interesting and sort of looks like a team expecting to lose a defenceman some time in the near future (either at the deadline or in the expansion draft).
