With the Ottawa Senators off on Saturday and Sunday, fans of the Sens have been relegated to the role of scoreboard watchers as things continue to tighten up in the Eastern Conference playoffs race.
Tonight, Sens supporters will be hoping for favours from the Vancouver Canucks, who host the 8th place Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning, who welcome the 9th place Washington Capitals.
The Caps and Panthers, the two teams battling for the Southeast lead, played last night in Florida with Washington picking up a huge win and a crucial two points. The Caps now sit five points back of the Sens for 7th place but with three games in hand. Important to note that they are only three back of the Panthers for the division lead.
Safe to say Sens will be watching the Capitals and Panthers closely down the stretch.
The other team to keep an eye on is the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have the toughest remaining schedule of any of the teams battling for the final few spots and have been slumping a bit of late. The Leafs had dropped four straight before picking up a huge OT win in Edmonton the other night.
Leafs are in Vancouver tonight before returning home for a four game home stand against the Devils, Sharks, Capital and Panthers.
Reality is the best thing Ottawa can do is take care of what they can control. While the Sens have still played the most games of an Eastern Conference team at 60 (tied with the Jets) they have to find a way to keep picking up points.
After Monday afternoon's tilt on the Island, the Sens return home for games against Washington, Boston and the New York Islanders.
- Still plenty of talk with the NHL trade deadline just nine days away. Not expecting the Sens to be active but they have apparently made calls looking for a top six forward addition. Right now the price is too high but I've been told the Sens have shown mild interest in LA Kings forward Dustin Penner. If yesterday's comment section is any indication, I expect that little tid bit to be met with mixed reviews.
- With defenceman Niklas Grossman and Hal Gill already on the move, and Pavel Kubina soon to follow, the Sens will have a tough decision to make on Filip Kuba. With the team holding down a playoff spot I would think they have to hold on to a guy who has been the team's best all around defenceman but Murray will certainly see what the potential return could be.
- The Sens have a full day off today with the Annual Sens Soiree scheduled for this evening. Paul MacLean's group will return to the practice ice tomorrow at noon at the Bell SensPlex.
