Game six: Ottawa Senators v. Tampa Bay Lightning
Hey-oh! The Battle of the Swedish Rookie Defencemen! The Return of Andrej Meszaros! Battle of the 1992-93 NHL Expansion Class! Whatever you want to call it, it's a hockey game, and it's two points on the line. Game starts at 7:30 p.m., and we'll have this motha-fluppin' game thread open for all your comments. Pascal Leclaire will get the start in net, while Peter Regin, Jesse Winchester, and Filip Kuba remain out with injuries. Lines, if reports are correct, will look a little something like this:
Darren's Take:
The key tonight is shutting down the Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis line, which has been dynamite in the early going. They've combined for 11 of Tampa Bay's 15 goals so far. I expect the Phillips-Volchenkov pairing to cover them, which leaves Vincent Lecavalier's line for some other unlucky pairing.
Obviously, the other key is that the Sens have to start producing some goals. Who's under the microscope? Jason Spezza, Alex Kovalev, and pretty much everyone on both powerplay units. Let's hope they find a way to hit the back of the net tonight.
Without further ado, let's get it started!