What you've missed:

The Senators kept rolling with 2 wins from 3 starts last week. Dropping a 4-1 decision to Pittsburgh, the Sens then totally dominated a meek-looking Tampa Bay 7-1, and in an emotional return to Montreal, Alexei Kovalev picked up two points to take Ottawa past the Habs 3-1.

The offensive heroics have been there, but in reality the Sens are at the top of the North-East because of their defensive effort. Ottawa has the 2nd best penalty kill in the league (after Columbus) at 93.1%. In particular, Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher have stepped up their two-way games, and the pairing of Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov has been solid.

Chris Neil continues to prove his worth as a $2 million 4th liner. Milan Michalek scored his first hat-trick Thursday and his skating is giving opposition teams fits. Jason Spezza is one lucky break from bursting out and has been dishing out the puck really well.

In other games around the league:

- Phoenix caused a boilover when they took the W from visitors Boston 4-1 on Saturday. Shane Doan had 3 assists on the night.

- Colorado sit solely atop the West conference after a perfect 4 for 4 road trip. The Avs collected points in Boston, Toronto, Montreal and Detroit

- Toronto continue to languish at the bottom of the standings after being outscored 15-4 in the last 3 games. The Islanders also dropped their 3 games last week and are the only other winless team in the NHL.

- Halfway through the 1st period Monday, Chicago found themselves 5 goals down. However, they staged a tremendous comeback to win their game against Calgary 6-5 in OT.

What's coming up:

Ottawa have a relaxed schedule this week with just 2 games. The first action is on Thursday, when the Sens take on Nashville (7:30pm, Sportsnet) at Scotiabank Place. And to close out the week, they face divisional rivals Boston Saturday (7pm, CBC), also at home.

Injury-wise, Peter Regin has recovered from his concerns and will be available for Thursday's game. Jesse Winchester is also looking to return to the lineup this week or early next. The last report on Filip Kuba was hopeful of his return soon, more likely for Saturday vs the Bruins.

It's fairly safe to say that most expect a victory for the Sens, based on current form, over the lowly Preds. But the real tester this week will be against Boston. Ottawa have quite a travel-friendly and spaced out schedule in the coming 5-6 weeks, and need to strike while the iron is hot. The Bruins are still finding their feet this season, and a Sens win now will be crucial if Ottawa expect to be playing post-season hockey.

Pascal Leclaire has looked good, but with the exception of the Pens game (which didn't go so well), he hasn't really been tested over a full 60 minutes by opposing teams thus far. Can he keep it going? Is Alexei Kovalev just starting to heat up at the right time, or will he go back into his shell again if Alfie is moved off that line? And can Erik Karlsson rebound from what has been a sub-standard effort so far without the veteran presence of Filip Kuba?

In other games this week:

- Dallas have at least 1 point in 6 out of their 7 games, and will look to continue on form on their road trip this week. They face stops in Anaheim, Los Angeles and St Louis as well as facing the Kings at home Monday.

- Detroit are in tough this week with games against 2 red-hot teams in Phoenix and Colorado. The Wings will need to pick up the pace if they want to keep up with the rest of the West.

- Likewise for Florida, whose play has been all over the chart. They stunned Philly last week and the rematch is Saturday, but before then the Cats will have to face strong starters Buffalo as well as Pittsburgh.

Who's hot?

- Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa) has 5 points from the last 2 games, and has already scored 2 game winning goals this season.

- Martin St Louis (Tampa Bay) has at least a point in every game this season.

- Dustin Penner (Edmonton) went +5 and picked up 6 points in 3 games last week.

- Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix) has 2 shutouts, a 1.14 GAA and an incredible 0.953 save percentage through 6 games. Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) has won all 7 of his starts.

Who's not?

- Christobal Huet (Chicago) was pulled just 7 minutes into Monday's game after letting in 3 goals on 5 shots, and currently sits at 0.844 save percentage.

- Josh Harding (Minnesota) has now let in 11 goals in just 2 games.

- Mattias Ohlund (Tampa Bay) is a +5 at home but a -6 on the road, and has been held scoreless in the last 3 contests.

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I really enjoy your articles Matt You cover lots of grounds...and they are easy to read

Great article Matt. How long do you think Colorado can stay up there?

All Homerism aside, I think Milan Michalek deserves to be added to the hot list too. Joe Thornton and Anze Kopitar had pretty good weeks as well.

Oh, and you forgot to add "Toronto Maple Leafs" to the not list

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I look forward to getting a PM from him every weekend so I can be the first to read the new preview

There's only so much room for the lists - I try to be brief... Hopefully people don't think these previews are too long?

I can honestly say I read precisely 0 predictions for this season (including my own) that showed Phoenix and Colorado at the top of the west, and for Toronto to not win a single game so far.

And the hot and not list is not for whole teams, hence why the Leafs didn't make it in there

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Not at all. You write clearly, and it's easy and enjoyable to read. And anyways, there is no such thing as too much hockey talk!

Phoenix and Colorado likely won't even make the Playoffs, and Toronto won't finish in the basement.

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The way the articles are written, they don't seem long at all. They're very easy to read through. It's sort of like a "Hockey Digest" and I love it!

Well I know I have at least 1 fan

Seriously you guys, I really appreciate all the comments and thoughts.

another good preview. good job!

Another great article Matt! Good job

"Toronto continue to languish at the bottom of the standings after being outscored 15-4 in the last 3 games"

Oh wow....has it really been that bad? *shakes head*

Awesome review yet again! They are definitely the perfect length to read quick and soak up a weeks worth of details about what's going on. Truly enjoy them!

Oh, and thanks for not mentioning the whole Leafs team in the "Who's Not" part of your article. lol. We just need for Gustavsson to come back and kick some ass in goal. That should perk those boys up..

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PS - One of these days you should include "Gerber" in your "Who's Not"
...just because he was a crazy nightmare in the last year he played for NHL

I really appreciate the support

lol, no problems KD - I think Gustavsson is undoubtedly the best goalie the Leafs have right now but I just hope they aren't forced to play him until he drops.



I dunno, I think Toskala is this year's Gerber

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Pavel Bure for the hot list!

Please? Just once?

lol

People seem to REALLY like the hot and not lists...is that something you guys want to see more of?

Yes. Especially if Pavel Bure makes it

I think the length is definitely enough for those lists, you don't want too many people on there as it's not as fun.

And where it's placed is also a great spot because the read is consistently great and then it's like "whoa! sweet!" at the end.. ahaha

I totally think you're onto something there, although I wish I could say differently.

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Very good article Matt, thay have all been great reads. I will say that I can't agree with one comment you said

Pascal Leclaire has looked good, but with the exception of the Pens game....

The first 2 goals wouldn't have been stopped by ANY goaltender. Who knew Guerin's shot would fall right back in front of him off Philipps stick, and who would have thought Kelly's pass attempt would go off a fellow teammates stick (Karlsson) and into our net. The only thing I can say about Snoopy during that game is he DEFINITELY should have had the shot coming down the wing by Kennedy. Staal's goal is a toss up, wasn't his fault either though. Other than that he did his job that night and did it well. The D and him combined kept Malkin and Crosby off the scoresheet, one feat that is often very tough to accomplish.

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Die Hard Sens Fan Since Day 1.
For now and forever! GO SENS GO

Loving the Snoopy reference ^^^

You misunderstood the context of that sentence.

"Pascal Leclaire has looked good" is a separate thought from "but with the exception of the Pens game, he has not been tested for a full 60 minutes by other teams".

I agree he had as good a game as can be expected against Pittsburgh. My comment was to highlight that Ottawa haven't really faced a full 60 minute effort from teams recently.

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