Silver Nuggets: Elliott starts tonight against Boston, Kuba skating with team

Game day! Huzzah! A few notes about the game tonight, and anything else happening in the world of the Senators:

• Jason Spezza was never expected to miss tonight's game against the Boston Bruins, although he and Pascal Leclaire (flu) missed practice this morning. (Citizen)
• On the other hand, Brian Elliott's going to get the start, but there were no othor lineup changes (which means Shean Donovan will be scratched again, for some reason). (Twitter)
• UPDATE: Looks like Filip Kuba is skating with the team, so maybe his mysterious injury won't keep him out too much longer. (Twitter)
• Don't count on the Bruins taking Ottawa for granted tonight, at least not if they read the glowing praise for the Senators' off-season activity in the Boston Herald: "with a handful of sage personnel moves, [Ottawa] has morphed into a playoff contender." (Herald)
• UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot to link to the Prediction Panel! You'll never guess who I picked to win tonight. (Citizen)
• The Globe printed the league's top minute-munchers this morning, and I'm surprised to see former Senators Joe Corvo second in the league with 27:22 per game. (Globe & Mail)
• If you're wondering, the top Senator in TOI/G is Anton Volchenkov with 21:25 per game; all the way down at 81 in the NHL. (NHL.com)
• The Study of Sports is a pretty interesting blog, and their recent post about the Sens discusses the increasing influence of coach Cory Clouston on the Sens' personnel decisions--evidenced by the contract extensions given to Matt Carkner and Ryan Shannon, and the emergence of Peter Regin. (Study of Sports)
• Although Jesse Winchester scored in his first AHL game, the Binghamton Senators lost their sixth in a row last night, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Syracuse Crunch. Other goals came from Derek Smith and Josh Hennessy. (Press & Sun Bulletin)
• Looks like prospect Robin Lehner is the Soo Greyhounds' number one in everything but name, as he's making his third consecutive start tonight against the Erie Otters. (Sault Star)
• Newsflash: "Dany Heatley unworried about his reputation". Didn't we figure that out a few months ago? (National Post)