Now that the NHL Trade Deadline has finally passed, all the rumours and speculation can finally be put to bed.
With only 12 games left in the NHL season, these are your Ottawa Senators. Of course with the likes of Craig Anderson, Milan Michalek, Jared Cowen and hopefully all Jason Spezza left to return to the line up, the biggest additions could be still to come. The stretch drive to the NHL playoffs begins tonight in Buffalo.
Despite trading their Captain Jason Pominville away on deadline day and without Tomas Vanek, the Sabres are not to be taken lightly. Their last game was a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on a night where they snapped the Pens 14 game winning streak. The Sabres have picked up at least a point in three of their last four.
The Sens are coming off back to back losses to division rivals, including a 4-0 setback against the Leafs and a 3-2 loss to the Bruins. With six games to go on this road trip, the Sens have to start finding some points with teams like the 7th place Islanders and 8th place Rangers both playing well as of late. The Senators hold just a five point lead over the 9th place New Jersey Devils.
The newest Senator, Cory Conacher will make his debut in an Ottawa uniform wearing #89. Based on a day of practice and the combinations at the morning skate, it looks like he’ll start on a line with fellow rookies Mika Zibanejad and Jakob Silfverberg. All three guys are currently in the Top 10 in rookie goal scoring. Should be fun to watch.
Here's how MacLean will line them up.
Latendresse-Turris-Alfredsson
Conacher-Zibanejad-Silfverberg
Greening-Smith-Neil
Kassian-Regin-Condra
Methot-Gryba
Wiercioch-Gonchar
Lundin-Phillips
Jim O'Brien and Andre Benoit are the healthy scratches. Craig Anderson is healthy and ready to return but it will be Robin Lehner that gets the start in Buffalo. Ryan Miller starts for the Sabres. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on Sportsnet and on the radio at Team 1200.
GO SENS GO!
- Ben Bishop dazzled in his Tampa Bay Lightning debut, turning aside all 45 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season. Certainly not a bad first impression for Big Ben. What’s interesting about Bishop’s strong outing is it seemed like Sens fans were as happy as Tampa Bay fans to see Bishop having early success. Bishop was such a loyal teammate and quality player for the Senators, that fans in Ottawa legitimately want to see him do well. Until Tuesday night of course…
- Would like to thank everyone for your patience during this latest server upgrade. After three years of doing this, you would think I would know what to expect on deadline day. The moment Ben Bishop was traded to Tampa Bay, there was a surge in traffic that the old server just couldn’t handle. While it sucks that we’ve had to take a day to get things back online, I prefer to look at the positives. This site continues to grow with each passing season and would not exist without the fantastic support I receive from the loyal readers. Thanks for making SensChirp one of the best Senators communities out there.
