GAME DAY: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators - 7:30pm EST - Thu. Nov. 19th, 2009

The Ottawa Senators (9-6-3, 21 points, 2nd in the Northeast) host the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsuburgh Penguins (14-7-0, 28 points, 2nd in the Atlantic) on Thursday night at Scotiabank Place. The Sens are coming off a wide open and crazy win over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night that saw the Battle of Ontario get re-kindled with 3 fights in the first period alone. It was an ugly game and Kessle showed by Burke was after him... he was a threat on every shift he had and was very hard to contain. Leclaire and Fisher gave an outstanding performance to lead the team to victory. Hopefully, the rest of the team can follow their lead and get their heads in the game. Pittsburgh has been off to a very strong start despite having quite a few injuries to their roster. Fleury had continued his stellar play in nets and this will no doubt be a tough game for the Sens despite Pitt having 7 players out of the lineup. Pitts depth has kept them going and the Sens will need to take this game very seriously. GO SENS GO!!!

Game Coverage:
- TV: TSN2 (HD), RDS (HD), FS-P (HD)
- Radio: Team 1200
- Web: http://www.atdhe.net/ and possibly http://www.justin.tv/

Latest Updates:
- Kovalev is in tonight, will leave for Russia after the game.
- Clouston: Same line-up as last game. Leclaire starts in goal.
- Clouston: We need to attacks as units and defend as units.
- Talbot and Gonchar are hoping to make their return against Ottawa on tonight.
- McKee out 2-4 weeks for the Pens with an infected finger

Team Lineups:
Ottawa Senators: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/ottawa-senators-team-lineup
Pittsburgh Penguins: http://www.dailyfaceoff.com/team-lineups/pittsburgh-penguins-team-lineup

TSN's Ice Chips:

Source: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=11009

Ottawa Senators:

The Senators begin a four-game stretch this evening in which they play the top four teams in the East: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Washington and New Jersey. Aside from the Lightning, the Sens have not beaten a team currently in the top-8 in the Eastern Conference.- TSN

Defenceman Matt Carkner leads the NHL in majors with nine, while the Sens lead the league in PIMs, averaging 18.3 minutes per
game; Carkner, Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu all in the top-10 in minutes. - TSN

Alexei Kovalev will leave for Russia after tonight's game because of the death of his wife's mother. - TSNProjected lines vs the Penguins:

Forwards:
Michalek - Spezza - Alfredsson
Foligno - Fisher - Kovalev
Cheechoo - Winchester - Neil
Ruutu - Kelly - Donovan

Defencemen:
Phillips - Kuba
Campoli - Lee
Picard - Carkner

Goaltenders:
Leclaire
Elliott

Injuries:
- Volchenkov (dislocated right elbow, on injured reserve)

Scratches:
- Regin
- Shannon

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Sergei Gonchar and Maxime Talbot return to the Penguins' lineup this evening, while Mark Eaton (back spasms) is questionable. He will take the warmup to see how he feels. The club recalled Chris Lee if Eaton can't go. Talbot will play his first game of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in July. With Ruslan Fedotenko, Michael Rupp and Talbot in the lineup, the Penguins have three players who have scored Stanley Cup Final Game 7 winning goals. - TSN

Projected Lines vs. Senators

Forwards:
Fedotenko - Crosby - Malkin
Dupuis - Staal - Guerin
Cooke - Adams - Talbot
Bourque - Rupp - Godard

Defencemen:
Lovejoy - Guenin
Gonchar - Engelland
Skoula - Lee??

Goaltenders:
Fleury

Injuries:
- Tyler Kennedy (groin, on IR)
- Kris Letaing (bruised right shoulder, on IR)
- Brooks Orpik (lower body, expected to miss two weeks)
- Chris Kunitz (lower body, expected to miss at least three weeks)
- Alex Goligoski (left leg, expected to miss 2-3 weeks)

Game Day Previews:

OttawaSenators.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://senators.nhl.com/club/preview.htm?id=2009020301

NHL.com Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.nhl.com/ice/preview.htm?id=2009020301

Sportsnet.ca Game Day Preview:

Source: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/scores/20091119/Pit@Ott/story

ESPN Game Day Preview:

Source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/preview?gameId=291119014

ESPN Stats Comparison:



Media Links:
- Clouston pre-game presser from Thursday (MP3): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091119_Clouston.mp3
- Game notes for tonight (PDF): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091119_Ott-vs-Pit.pdf
- Clouston post-practice presser from Wednesday (Part 1): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091118_Clouston-01.mp3
- Clouston post-practice presser from Wednesday (Part 2): http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091118_Clouston-02.mp3
- Clouston post-game (vs Leafs) presser audio: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/091117_Clouston-post.mp3
- SensTV On-line: http://senators.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp
- Official Twitter of the Ottawa Senators: http://twitter.com/NHL_Sens

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GO SENS GO!!!

Giving a "condensed" version a try... let me know... GO SENS GO!!!

Might I ask why Donovan is scratched again (in the projected lineup?) and why Shannon is on line 3 and Neil on line 4?

Talk about an expensive 4th line. Eesh!

Condensed version makes this game look surprisingly..... even?

SensGirl11 wrote:Might I ask why Donovan is scratched again (in the projected lineup?) and why Shannon is on line 3 and Neil on line 4?

Talk about an expensive 4th line. Eesh!

Please tell me Donovan isn't scratched. I will be pissed - for the first time I'll start to question CC.

SensGirl11 wrote:Might I ask why Donovan is scratched again (in the projected lineup?) and why Shannon is on line 3 and Neil on line 4?

Talk about an expensive 4th line. Eesh!

Hmmm... that was an oops... I'll fix now... projected lines should be the same as last night's game.

SpezDispenser wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:Might I ask why Donovan is scratched again (in the projected lineup?) and why Shannon is on line 3 and Neil on line 4?

Talk about an expensive 4th line. Eesh!

Please tell me Donovan isn't scratched. I will be pissed - for the first time I'll start to question CC.

My bad... fixed now. Not sure where that came from... left overs from an old GDT me thinks...

Thanks Shabbs! That's better!

Thanks for the GDT too, looks great as usual!

SensGirl11 wrote:Thanks Shabbs! That's better!

Thanks for the GDT too, looks great as usual!

HA HA! Man you guys are relentless...

Mckee out as well (that's 5 of 6 starting D) - although Gonchar might play.

Malkin is playing with Crosby?

Hayden wrote:Mckee out as well (that's 5 of 6 starting D) - although Gonchar might play.

Yeah, McKee out 2-4 weeks...

http://twitter.com/Brian_Metzer/status/5834518084

Gonchar and Talbot could be in the line-up tomorrow.

asq2 wrote:Malkin is playing with Crosby?

Weird eh? I think it's been like this for most of the season (when Malkin wasn't hurt). Whatever they are doing is working though. They're still great this year so far, which is quite surprising. I still don't see how they can be as good as they are...

I guess part of the rationale is that Crosby really suffered while Malkin was out, so they want to give him a capable (to understate) linemate.

But I think it'd be smarter to have them on separate lines so that defensive pressure on Crosby is less intense.

Anyway, Malkin appears to be the straw that stirs the drink on the ice in Pittsburgh, even if Sidney wears the C.

I wish Malkin was out. Our D without Volchenkov in the shutdown tandem will not be able to contain him, if he is 100%.

That's very true MOI. We will notice even more tomorrow that he isn't playing. Or....maybe we won't...who even knows anymore how we are going to play on any given night.

Don't you miss the days (it seems oh so long ago) when we would be able to predict when we were going to win and when we were going to lose?

Those were the days...

Sens web site story... Kovalev serving up a goal fest...

http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=506598

MurderOnIce wrote:I wish Malkin was out. Our D without Volchenkov in the shutdown tandem will not be able to contain him, if he is 100%.

It's crazy that they have so many guys out, yet still have a threatening squad. Bah. This could be a duel of the goalies.

Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in? Last I checked I was still top-ten in the pool (tied for 7th). With Gonchar back and Price playing well, who knows, maybe top-five? It's too early to hope for an assault on Beelzebub -- I mean Beedub -- but some injuries will come his way, too. And I don't mean Komisarek.

wprager wrote:Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in?

Yes. Yes it is wrong.

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in?

Yes. Yes it is wrong.

Indeed.

You need to check your SIM League Attitude at the door when in the GDT's!!!

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in?

Yes. Yes it is wrong.

wprager wrote:Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in? Last I checked I was still top-ten in the pool (tied for 7th). With Gonchar back and Price playing well, who knows, maybe top-five? It's too early to hope for an assault on Beelzebub -- I mean Beedub -- but some injuries will come his way, too. And I don't mean Komisarek.

That's like playing proline and betting against your team.

shabbs wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in?

Yes. Yes it is wrong.

Indeed.

You need to check your SIM League Attitude at the door when in the GDT's!!!

So, I get 2 minutes for un-fan-manlike conduct?

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

wprager wrote:Is it wrong for me to secretly smile that Gonchar is drawing back in?

Yes. Yes it is wrong.

Indeed.

You need to check your SIM League Attitude at the door when in the GDT's!!!

So, I get 2 minutes for un-fan-manship conduct?

HA HA!

10-min major for treason.

Treason, eh? I was born in Russia. Gonchar is Russian.

Россия — священная наша держава,
Россия — любимая наша страна.
Могучая воля, великая слава —
Твоё достоянье на все времена!

Mighty will, great glory = Gonchar

wprager wrote:Treason, eh? I was born in Russia. Gonchar is Russian.

Россия — священная наша держава,
Россия — любимая наша страна.
Могучая воля, великая слава —
Твоё достоянье на все времена!

Oh yeah? Two can play at that game...

Treason to your NHL Team!!!! SACRILEGE!!!!!

%W#$%YTEWRFTQ$$WETQTY#$^E
QWTREWQVDSFT$#@QTR#&^$#%TW$%
QW$%@#^%$#@EWGTWE$T%@#$
Q$@%#@YE#TRGWTR$#WQE#@$!!!!!!

Yeah!

Sukin syn!

Transliterate this!

I was just researching the origins of the name "Gonchar" and apparently it means "Potter" in Ukrainian.

Sergei Potter and the Goblet of Stanley?

wprager wrote:Sukin syn!

Transliterate this!

Transmogrify THIS!!!!

Scientific progress goes boink?

So... do we dare throw out some predictions or shall we wait to see what Clouston says tomorrow?

I predict Gonchar will pot one.

Booo.

wprager wrote:I predict Gonchar will pot one.

... in his own net!

BOOOOOOOOOOOYEAH!!!!!!

I predict our AHL defense outplays their AHL defense