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Got a case of the Mondays? Here are some Ottawa Senators stories to cheer you up:

• In case you haven't looked lately: heading into tonight's game, Ottawa is sixth in the Eastern conference, and only one point behind the Buffalo Sabres in the Northeast division.
• Brian Elliott will start in net tonight against the Washington Capitals. No word yet on the extent of Pascal Leclaire's injury, but he'll be backing up Elliott, so it can't be too bad. Phew. (Twitter)
• Defenseman Anton Volchenkov skated with the team at practice today. It was the first time he'd skated with the team since his elbow injury a few weeks ago, Here's hoping he's ready for some game action soon. (Twitter)
• After Chris Neil's boneheaded penalties at the end of last game, Peter and I figured he should be benched. Instead, Clouston has promoted him to the second line. Ryan Shannon, meanwhile, will go down to the fourth line, with Peter Regin playing left wing and Jesse Winchester as the pivot. (Twitter)
• Great interview with Senators #1 draft pick Jared Cowen: "Staying in Canada was probably the best thing that could happen so in hindsight it was kind of a good thing to have [the injury] happen." Cowen is +7 with 14 points in 20 games with the WHL's Spokane Chiefs this season. (Pipeline Show)
• Jason Spezza is adamant that he will shoot more often after getting complaints from his dad and Don Cherry. Best part of the story is that Jarkko Ruutu watched Coach's Corner between periods and told Spezza what Cherry was saying about him. (Sun)

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• Here's the prediction panel for tonight's game. Most seem to think the Caps will take it tonight, and I have to agree with them. Hopefully the Sens can surprise us all with another win, though. (Citizen)
• Shean Donovan sounds optimistic about his injury to the ACL and MCL of his right knee: "I think I've hurt it before, so it's not that big a deal." See, and I thought that made it a bigger deal! (Senators)
• Goalie prospect Robin Lehner was named Sportsnet's OHL hot player of the week for posting three wings, two shutouts, a .974 save percentage in his last three games. Sportsnet also mentions that some suggest Lehner is the best goalie in the league. Nice. (Sportsnet)
• In case you're curious, the reason we haven't mentioned the Carrie Underwood TV appearances or recent Mike Fisher interview in the Sun is that Peter and I simply don't see the relevance of their relationship to what they do. Despite the fact that we'd probably get a lot more hits, we'd rather talk about hockey than someone else's personal life. Weird, right?

Be sure to read Peter's feature on Erik Karlsson from this morning, and check back tonight for the Senators vs. Capitals gameday thread.