Game 53: Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins
The Ottawa Senators, with several players playing on left wing as usual, will return to action tonight when they take on Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins. The Senators have lost three in a row and tonight will finish off a stretch of six consecutive road games. A loss and the Senators return home with a four-game losing streak and do not play again until Friday. They could also see their lead on ninth place drop to three points. Still, it is a road game in Boston, so another loss is the most expected outcome. But this team has a habit of surprising us doesn't it?
Here are the lines from Sylvain St-Laurent.
Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Erik Condra - Zack Smith - Bobby Butler
Kaspars Daugavins - Zenon Konopka - Chris Neil
Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar
Chris Phillips - Matt Carkner
Craig Anderson (starter)
Alex Auld
More after the jump.
Here are some things to look out for tonight:
- Will the team have more jump: The Senators looked exhausted towards the end of the trip. Most of the players have had a nice break, and the others were enjoying themselves at the all-star game. The team might lose but hopefully they play well.
- Anderson and Karlsson: Anderson has started however many consecutive games, but he's had a week off to chill in Florida. The tiring out issues should be okay for another two weeks right? Karlsson while picking up the points, didn't have the same jump in those last few games. Can he bounce back?
- Can Alfie score on Thomas: Assuming Tim Thomas starts tonight, can Alfie finally score on Thomas after failing to do so on a couple of glorious chances at the all-star game. Even though this game "matters" more, I bet it would have been remembered more if he scored a hat trick at his home all-star game than in a random regular season game.
- How many Tim Thomas and left wing/right wing/centre jokes will I make?: Probably a lot. Does Michalek count as a left winger or a right winger? What about Condra?
