The Ottawa Senators will look to consolidate their position in the top eight of the eastern conference when they host the 11th seeded Washington Capitals. The two clubs met four days earlier in Washington, with the Capitals coming out on top in overtime.
The Senators will go with the same lines and pairings as last time, and are as follows:
Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Bobby Butler
Milan Michalek - Nick Foligno - Daniel Alfredsson
Kaspars Daugavins - Zack Smith - Erik Condra
Zenon Konopka - Jesse Winchester - Chris Neil
Jared Cowen - Erik Karlsson
Chris Phillips - Sergei Gonchar
Brian Lee - David Rundblad
Craig Anderson (starter)
Alex Auld
It hasn't been a good day in sports for me, so hopefully Ottawa can help fix that. Join us for all the fun! Remember it is a TSN game and is thus an early 7:00 p.m. start.
Talking points and statistics after the jump.
Here are my talking points for tonight:
- Karlsson/Cowen against top line: Erik Karlsson has played Alexander Ovechkin well so far and tonight he will have to deal with a line of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin. Can Karlsson (and Cowen) keep the Washington stars under wraps again?
- Greening and Butler: Bobby Butler and Colin Greening have remained on the top line despite failing to produce. In the last game, Paul MacLean switched up the lines briefly in the third. Will he do so again?
- Smith surging: Zack Smith has been playing excellent hockey tonight, but we can't expect our third line centre to keep this up indefinitely. Will it continue tonight? The Senators have last change, so will they match him up against Ovechkin's line?
- Chris Neil: Neil hasn't been a factor in his first two games back from injury and has seen limited ice time. With Smith, Condra and Daugavins doing so well, there hasn't been a room for him on the third line.
Here are the 2011-2012 comparative statistics for the Senators and the Capitals:
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