Watching last night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, it was abundantly clear just how important a healthy Jason Spezza is to the Senators line up.
While Kyle Turris has done an admirable job on the second line, the Sens need Spezza in the line up and producing if they are going to keep pace over the last eight games of the season. Jason Spezza was not on the ice this morning and is apparently still suffering from the illness that kept him out of Tuesday’s game.
The good news is MacLean said he does expect Spezza to be back at practice tomorrow and good to go on Friday night in Montreal.
Ottawa’s power play continued to struggle last night and obviously that had a lot to do with Spezza being out of the line up. But the fact is, the Senators have been ice cold with the man advantage for the past few games and will need to get that sorted out in time for Friday night’s game against the Habs.
Montreal blocks a ton of shots so quick puck movement and a little more rotation will be paramount on Friday night. Over this recent slump, there has been far too much standing still on the power play.
In net, it sounds like Ben Bishop is likely to get another start on Friday night. Anderson is getting close but it didn’t sound like he would be ready to go on Friday. You would also think the Senators would to give Andy his first start against a high flying Penguins team on Saturday night.
While there is no need for Sens fans to panic, it’s important that the Senators right this ship in a hurry. They still control their own destiny but if the losses continue to pile up, they could put themselves in a tough position down the stretch.
There is only one game of real significance to the Sens tonight and it features the Montreal Canadiens in Buffalo to take on the ninth place Sabres. Buffalo currently sits six points back of Ottawa but they have the benefit of a game in hand.
The Habs could do the Sens a huge favour with a win tonight.
- MacLean also provided an update on Jesse Winchester this morning. Winchester has passed the protocol testing required for any player that suffers a concussion. Obviously this is a step in the right direction for Winchester but his next challenge will be getting into game shape. That will be tough to do with just eight games left on the schedule.
