Silver Nuggets

Silver Nuggets: Elliott starts, Regin in for Shannon

A bunch of headlines in anticipation of tonight's game between the Ottawa Senators and the New York Rangers:

Brian Elliott gets the start tonight. (@NHL_Sens)
Peter Regin is back in the lineup tonight. Cory Clouston chooses not to make a statement by simply scratching Ryan Shannon, who a) hasn't been playing poorly, and b) is one of few speedy players on a roster that's plagued with sluggishness. (@NHL_Sens)
Alex Kovalev was bumped down to the fourth line in practice, and likely will start the game there. Clouston says he needs to "play hard", "no different from anybody else". Allen Panzeri thinks he's an easy target, and points out he's been the top scorer over the Sens' recent struggles. I (and Jeremy Milks of Black Aces) think maybe he should be reunited with Jason Spezza and Peter Regin, a line that was terrific earlier in the season. (Citizen)
Jeremy Milks remains optimistic, and predicts a Senators win tonight. No one else on the panel agrees. (Sens Extra)

Although Sergei Gonchar realizes his -14 plus/minus is ugly, he also realizes that stats don't tell the whole story--particularly plus-minus, which can be particularly misrepresentative. (Sun)
It's pretty obvious that with Bryan Murray's contract up at the end of this season, there's a good chance for a new GM taking over this summer. Wayne Scanlan think Pierre McGuire might be a good fit; I'd have to agree. (Citizen)
Some candid comments from Peter Regin, who didn't think he deserved to be the healthy scratch--he was trying hard, just not converting, which was the case for every other player on the team pretty much. I've got to agree with Regin. (Citizen)
Graeme Nichols looks at some of the statistical reasons to explain how absurd it was to single Regin out for poor play. (The 6th Sens)
And Milks thinks that Cory Clouston is being stubborn in shuffling his lines, but not going back to combinations that worked in the past. (Black Aces)
Finally, my first guest post on Senators Extra is up, but if you read this blog regularly, it might look familiar. (Sens Extra)/