Game 64: New York Islanders @ Ottawa Senators - King Robin starts
The Ottawa Senators will get a chance to quickly rebound from last night's lost Boston when they host the New York Islanders. The big news of the day is that Ottawa traded their second round pick in 2013 for Ben Bishop. The other news was that Kyle Turris escaped suspension for his hit on Joe Corvo yesterday.
As expected, Ian Mendes reports that Robin Lehner will start and Brian Lee will return for Matt Carkner
Colin Greening - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno - Jim O'Brien - Chris Neil
Jared Cowen - Brian Lee
Robin Lehner (starter)
More to follow.
Here are some things to discuss:
- Robin Lehner's mindset: With the Senators trading and extending Ben Bishop on a one-way deal, it could be a message to Lehner that he needs to improve to be the backup next season. Very interesting to see how he plays today.
- Karlsson needs one point for the record: Erik Karlsson has three consecutive games with at least three points, totalling 10 points in those three games. He is now tied with Daniel Sedin and for 7th in NHL scoring. He needs one more point to break Norm Maciver's club record for points by a defenceman.
- Lack of secondary scoring: Kyle Turris and Zack Smith have not done much of anything for a long time. This has put a lot of pressure on Jason Spezza. Spezza has answered that with 19 points in an eight-game points streak. A little help would be beneficial though.
- Embarrassed Islanders: The Islanders lost 6-0 at home to Ottawa last week. They will probably want to avenge that as professional athletes. Hopefully Ottawa is ready for this in what is still a very winnable game.