Game 71: Sénateurs d'Ottawa @ Canadiens de Montréal
The Ottawa Senators will finally return to action when they visit the Montréal Canadiens at the Bell Centre tonight. Le woo de la hoo! Results have gone Ottawa's way recently and a win tonight would draw them level on points with the Boston Bruins for first place in the Northeast division.
There are no changes to the lineup. Zenon Konopka, Matt Carkner and Bobby Butler are the healthy scratches again tonight. Ben Bishop will start while Alex Auld solves sudoku puzzles on the bench.
Nick Foligno - Jim O'Brien - Chris Neil
Ben Bishop (starter)
Alex Auld (sudoku)
More after the jump.
Here are some topics to discuss:
- Increase the pressure on Boston: Ottawa has been at the coattails of the Bruins for the past couple months, but have never been able to draw level. A win tonight and they will finally be equal on points with only two extra games played.
- Score early again: Ottawa has been doing a good job of scoring the first goal for the last month. The Habs are 16 points behind Ottawa and don't have much to play for. Let's not give them any reasons.
- Jason Spezza: He didn't practise today, had a friend die in a skiing accident on Saturday, and his wife is close to giving birth to their child. What kind of state of mind will he be in?
- Karlsson's assists: The little guy hasn't had an assist in six straight games. He does have four goals in that span though. The six-game assist drought is right after an assist in seven consecutive games where he tallied 11 helpers.
- My broken French: How often will I rant incoherently in French?
