After consecutive losses on home ice to two of the top teams in the Western Conference, the Ottawa Senators head out on a quick one game road trip that takes them to the home of the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
The Chicago Blackhawks are off to another strong start, posting a 7-2-3 record and solidifying their spot as a Cup contender again this season. They’re coming off a convincing 5-1 win in Minnesota last night, which helped them snap a mini two game losing streak.
As the Sens learned against the Ducks and Sharks, facing a team on a back to back is never a layup. Especially when the team you’re facing is one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.
Corey Crawford started last night’s game so there is a chance the Senators see another back up, although in this case it certainly won’t be his first game. Nikolai Khabibulin has played 797 games in the NHL including a couple games this season. We’ll see if he gets the nod tonight.
Ahead of yesterday’s practice, the players held a closed door “players only” meeting led by the new Captain Jason Spezza. The team realizes that the way they have started games as of late has been unacceptable and want to get things back on track. A little early to play the players-only meeting card but clearly there were some things that needed to be addressed and it seemed like a fairly productive conversation.
We’ll see how it translates on the ice tonight.
More line juggling from Head Coach Paul MacLean at yesterday’s practice as he continues to search for the right combinations up front. Bobby Ryan was back on the top line with Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza while Mika Zibanejad found his way onto the second line with Turris and MacArthur.
(UPDATE 1:54 PM)- The Senators are on the ice for their game day skate and it seems as though the combinations from yesterday have carried over. Here is how the Sens are expected to line up
Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Zibanejad
Conacher-Smith-Neil
Greening-Grant-Condra
Methot-Karlsson
Phillips-Wiercioch
Cowen-Corvo
Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to get the nod for Chicago while the Senators will counter with Craig Anderson.
Puck drop is just after 8:00 PM.
- -Going to try out a new feature of sorts here on the site called The Daily Chirp. Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of random bits of information about the Senators that never made it on to the blog for one reason or another. It will be a combination of facts, rumours, stories and speculation that I’ve come across over the years. Some new stuff, some old. And despite the name, it likely won’t be every single day but keep an eye on the bottom of the post for “The Daily Chirp”.
The Daily Chirp- At the NHL Draft in New Jersey, the Ottawa Senators apparently received an offer for centre Kyle Turris. The team remains a bit of a mystery but some have suggested it may have been the Nashville Predators and the 4th overall pick was on the table.
