Game 23 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ New York Islanders

Ottawa's road trip continues, which means you're going to see Kyle Turris' prerecorded face begging you to watch them play the Bruins for another game.

Yesterday the Senators played right into the Flyers' hands, letting the team get under their skin, making ilya Bryzgalov look outstanding, and allowing mistakes--including a hugely ineffective power play--to whittle away their chances of winning the game. Via the Citizen, head coach Paul MacLean had this to say:

We’re not just going to let teams run around and run us. That’s not going to happen. I thought the penalty that Alfredsson took was good. We’re not going to accept it. We don’t expect the referees to protect us. That’s not what we’re about. We’re going to protect ourself.

Well, that's great, Paulrus, but are you happy with the results?

I’m not satisfied. We didn’t win the game. We got some opportunities, but we would like to see some goals out of it.

Hmm, do you think those two might be related?

Gryba and Methot and our five defense competed hard and the forwards also did a good job competing, but we need to do a little more of that five-on-five.

Word.

Anyway, the Islanders currently sit at 13th overall in the Eastern Conference, with 18 points in 21games. Ottawa remains in 5th with 27 points in 22 games. The Islanders are 2-2-1 in their last five games, and are coming off a 4-5 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. Evgeni Nabokov, who is expected to start today, allowed a hat trick to forward Nazem Kadri. Rick DiPietro, whom the Senators faced last game, was placed on waivers, cleared them, and then got shelled for five goals in one period before mercifully getting pulled in his first AHL start.

Nabokov is currently rocking a 3.04GAA and .899 save percentage, so expect a shutout.

Mike Lundin is out indefinitely after getting concussed on a hit by Harry Zolnierczyk, which means Andre Benoit will draw back in for sure. The rest of the lines look something like this:

Silfverberg - Turris - Alfredsson
Greening - Zibanejad - Condra
Dziurzynski - Smith - Neil
Daugvins- Regin - O'Brien

Méthot - Gryba
Wiercioch - Gonchar
Phillips - Benoit

Lehner (rising up)
Bishop (back on the street)

Notes for today:

• Is it just me, or does Daniel Alfredsson flip out more in his old age? He scared the crap out of Greening last year and now he loses it on Zac Rinaldo. Per Ian Mendes, the team has not heard anything about supplemental discipline yet, which means Alfie plays today. Matt Martin better keep his head on a swivel if he doesn't want to get a ticket on the Alfie pain train.
  
• Hey, did you know that Kyle Turris hasn't scored a goal in 18 games now, and that the only thing that matters in hockey are points?
• The last time these two teams played, Craig Anderson and Rick DiPietro were in net. That's an impossibility today.
• The last time these two teams played, Colin Greening, Andre Benoit, and Dave Dziurzynski score to lead them to a 3-1 win. That's also an impossibility today. (Because those guys don't score often, get it?)
  
• And finally, the last time these two teams played, Greening's goal was with a man advantage, meaning the Senators both scored first and scored on the power play in the same game. And yes, that is also an impossibility today.
• I worked hard to set that joke up.
• The Senators have both taken and allowed the most shots in the NHL, with 714 and 732, respectively.
• The Senators' penalty killing remains excellent. They're currently third in the NHL at 89.2%. The only teams better are Chicago and Boston, and both of those teams are leading their conferences in possible points per game. Ottawa is achieving this with two guys over 35, and two (or three, depending on the game) rookies who should be playing in the AHL.
• That means the team's goaltending has been pretty okay this year.
• Did you know? Most Sens fans are happier when the Ottawa Senators win.
  
• John Tavares leads the Islanders with 13 goals. Jim O`Brien leads the Senators with five. I expect they will get different levels of attention from opposing defenses.
• Paul MacLean has not announced the starter as of 1:04pm, which pisses me off, and makes me think it's Robin Lehner, so that's who I'm going to list. Edit: Mendes confirms:

MacLean says Lehner will start in goal. Andre Benoit comes back in for Lundin.

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) March 3, 2013

• GUYS. I CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE. /