I had to put that picture up! Not only it depicts the former Thrasher Ilya Kovalchuk playing his last “interesting” game with ATL, but it shows Keith Ballard and the reason why Ottawa didn’t lay a single finger on him. A picture means a million words. Anyways, the Ottawa Senators are on a slump, and are back on the road to face the Trashers, who haven’t been good lately either. They did beat Buffalo, though on Tuesday, so that may rise them in the East Standings. Ottawa needs to find a win and rally around it, like they did the last time they had a slump. I think it may be tonight, as Les Senateurs will be fully healthy for only the second time this season. Filip Kuba will play and Mike Fisher will return, meaning Shean Donovan, Jesse Winchester, and a later to be determined defenseman will be healthy scratches. Personally, Matt Carkner needs a break. His constant fighting and blocking shots technique is wearing down him, which has resulted into poor outings. Add in Chris Campoli’s great play in the loss to T-Dot, and I think it’s an easy decision.
I must say, though, the Sutton-Karlsson pairing has worked for Ottawa in spades. you have an offensively gifted, young defenseman on one side who isn’t afraid to throw his body around, and the best defensive defenseman (according to New York Islander fans) in the league on the other side. At first, I thought it would cause some confusion after all, their plays are polar opposites, but the two have been Ottawa’s best players during this current slump.
Concering teams catching up or close to us in the standings, Buffalo plays the Bolts and Philly play Dallas in Texas. Montreal has the day off. It’s important to start piling up the wins so when we get to the last week of the regular season, we can at least have a guaranteed playoff spot. The good thing is, a good chunk of the majority of teams we play before the first seaon ends are not in the playoff picture, the bad thing is that most of them are on the road, where we haven’t been so good this season. But I believe in this squad, and I believe in what management can do with the Senators. Oh god, no I’m sounding like Nikki Yanofsky.