The Ottawa Senators were back on the practice ice this morning ahead of tomorrow's tilt with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sergei Gonchar, who has missed the last couple games, was on the ice with the team and should be able to play tomorrow. Chris Phillips, who suffered an upper-body injury in the second period vs. the Devils, was not on the ice this morning.
The news on Phillips isn't good. MacLean spoke to the media today and revealed that the veteran defenceman has a concussion. As is so often the case with head injuries, no immediate timetable for his return.
With a tough home and home looming with the Philadelphia Flyers this weekend, finding a way to grab two points against a struggling Tampa Bay team is important. Tampa has been hovering around .500 in their past ten and are coming off an ugly loss in Toronto last night. Meanwhile, the Sens continue to hang on to 6th in the East but there are a handful of teams following close behind.
Every other team in the mix right now has games in hand so it's important for Ottawa to find points wherever they can. After tomorrow night, the Sens play 10 of 12 away from Scotiabank Place.
Here is how the team lined up at this morning's practice.
Greening-Spezza-Michalek
Condra-Turris-Alfredsson
Foligno-Smith-Butler
Daugavins-Konopka-Neil
Kuba-Karlsson
Cowen-Gonchar
Lee-Carkner
I'm sure those of you that are voting regularly are getting tired of hearing about it, but today is the LAST day to vote our Ottawa Senators into the NHL All Star Game. The polls close at midnight with the NHL expected to make an announcement on the starters tomorrow.
The Sens are in good shape but we can't let up. Already voted? Vote again! Maxed out all your votes? Tell a friend to vote! Don't have any friends? Tell a stranger on the street!
Since none of you got me anything for Christmas, I am willing to accept 90 votes for Alfredsson, Spezza, Michalek, Karlsson and Gonchar to make up for the oversight.
- Disappointing loss for Canada at the World Juniors last night but you have to admire the fight the team showed in that third period. Interesting to note that Sens prospect Mark Stone took the majority of right side faceoffs for his team in the third period. The guy is a sniper, but other parts of his game, including play making, vision and draws are extremely underrated.
- While one Sens prospect has been relegated to the Bronze Medal game, two more will play for Gold tomorrow night. Mika Zibanejad, Fredrik Claesson and Team Sweden will try to stop the high flying Russians in tomorrow's Gold Medal. Should be an excellent game to watch.
