Thursday, November 27, 2008

Hockey again! Finally! Sens v. Leafs pre-game


After what seemed like longer than five days (but wasn't), the Sens are back on the ice for a game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs. As was reported yesterday, Mike Fisher is expected back in the lineup tonight, so look for him alongside Filip Kuba on the first powerplay unit. It's not something I'd really ever thought of, but he didn't look out of place during the few games before his injury. That leaves a strong second unit (at least at the point), with an improving Alex Picard and a steady (and occasionally creative) Brendan Bell on the blue line. To be honest, though, I just want the first unit to score so that the second unit doesn't get the chance.

I'm not sure how the lines will stack up today, with Fisher coming back into the lineup. I would venture to guess the now-second line of Jesse Winchester, Antoine Vermette, and Chris Kelly will remain together, because even without a lot of success on the scoreboard they've been at least playing with plenty of hustle. Which means Fisher will line up on a Line 2B, with perhaps two of Jarkko Ruutu, Nick Foligno, and Shean Donovan. But that's all conjecture at this point.

The Sens will also be running with a few lucky trends: The black jersey, which has a perfect record this season, will be worn once again. Even if people think it's lucky, it'll become a lot more popular if the Sens keep winning in them. And the Sens are undefeated in regulation (1-0-1) since beginning The Moustache Project, so I understand most of them are continuing to let their 'staches grow out.
The Leafs will be without both Jason Blake (not much of a loss) and Mike Van Ryn (a bit more of a loss) tonight, both with concussions. Maybe, if we're lucky, Dominic Moore and Jeff Finger will get in a fight once again (like they did yesterday in practice) so the Sens can put a few past the now-troubling Vesa Toskala.

Statistically, as reported in the Sun, Daniel Alfredsson is running on a five-game point streak, and Picard has four assists in the past three games.
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