Ok so first of all, a happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians reading this
There's lots to cover so without further ado...let's get into the week that was.
What you've missed:
The Ottawa Senators went a perfect 3 for 3 this week, picking up wins against
Toronto, the
Islanders and
Atlanta, and there's plenty to like about the new Sens team this season. The 3rd and 4th lines have really stepped it up with players like
Chris Neil, Chris Kelly and
Shean Donovan taking strides to show they belong on the team and deserve their salary.
Mike Fisher looked positively reborn on the ice, scoring the OT winner Thursday and exuding confidence.
Matt Carkner has been a welcome physical presence on the back end. But perhaps the biggest revelation has been the play of
Peter Regin. The Danish centre has 3 points and a +3 through 4 games, but what the stats won't tell you is how he has made the players on his line better. Unfortunately, he was injured in the last game and is listed day-to-day at this time.
In other games around the league:
- In a high scoring affair,
Philadelphia squeaked past
Washington 6-5 Tuesday on the back of a hat trick from Mike Richards.
-
Phoenix grabbed some positive headlines for a change when they stunned
Pittsburgh 3-0 on Wednesday. Playing to a sellout crowd in the home opener Saturday (there were cheap seats aplenty), they dropped the decision to
Columbus.
- The
Islanders have now managed a point from each of their first 3 games of the season - but they gave up a 3 goal lead in the 2nd period to lose in the shootout to
Boston Saturday.
- In their western road trip,
Buffalo scored 2 valuable wins against
Phoenix and
Nashville, both 1 goal games. They are yet to lose a game in regulation this season.
-
Dallas managed to spoil
Calgary's perfect record with a 5-2 win on Friday.
What's coming up:
The Senators have 3 more games this week.
Ottawa host last season's champions
Pittsburgh (Monday 12/10, Sportsnet) in what should be a close affair. Next, it's
Tampa Bay's turn to roll into town (Thursday 15/10, TSN). And to close out the week, the Sens take a short jog up Autoroute 20 to face rivals
Montreal (Saturday 17/10, CBC).
On the injury front,
Jesse Winchester (knee) is apparently ahead of schedule but is still not likely to suit up this week. There is still concern for
Ryan Shannon, (head) but he did participate in training Friday and is expected to start tonight's game.
Peter Regin, however, is out with an upper body injury and
Filip Kuba is also confirmed out of tonight's lineup.
The game tonight is going to be a huge test for this team, seeing as the competition they've faced so far has not been first-rate. Ottawa will have to get a more consistent effort from its top lines.
Daniel Alfredsson may be tried out on line 2 to see if there is better chemistry there.
Jason Spezza has looked good defensively, but will need to shake off some bad luck in the offensive zone. Will
Jonathan Cheechoo's recent form get him a chance amongst the scorers? And just who will
Anton Volchenkov steamroll next?
In other games this week:
-
Los Angeles start a pivotal road trip this week, facing off against the
Rangers and
Islanders in New York. They'll also stop in
Detroit and
Columbus before the week is out. The Kings have an early lead in the Pacific and could really turn heads with a good effort here.
- In contrast,
Florida have a quiet week, but really need to get their season going against divisional rivals
Tampa Bay tonight, or risk falling even further behind.
-
Minnesota find themselves at the bottom of the West pile, but it's still early going. They have 3 home games this week and 2 games feature divisional rivals in
Edmonton and
Vancouver.
-
Boston would not be happy with a 2-2 start, and they face
Colorado in the afternoon game today hoping to improve their record. The Avs are on a road trip of their own (4 away games this week, 3 in the Northeast and the other in
Detroit) - they will need a stellar effort to stay near the top of the standings.
Who's Hot?
Former Senator
Dany Heatley (San Jose) has 8 points in his last 3 games, as does his linemate
Joe Thornton.
Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles) has 7 points in the last 3 games.
Ryan Miller (Buffalo) sits at just 0.98 GAA and has a 0.955 save percentage through his 3 starts.
Who's Not?
Robyn Regehr (Calgary) had no points this week and sits at a frosty -6 on a team that has won 4 of 5 games.
In just 2 games last week,
Carey Price (Montreal) let in 10 goals at a save percentage of just 0.804
Weekly Preview #2
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