About the Senators - 12-16-11
A preview of the Senators.
When and where: ScotiaBank Place, 7:30 p.m.
TV: Root Sports, SportsNet (East), RDS.
Record: 14-14-4, 32 points. The Senators are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference and last place in the Northeast Division.
Leading Scorer: Jason Spezza, 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists).
Last Game: 5-2 home loss to the Bruins, Wednesday. Spezza had a goal and an assist for the Senators.
Last Game against the Penguins: 6-3 road loss, Nov. 25. Tyler Kennedy had a goal and two assists for the Penguins.
Senators Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Daniel Alfredsson. Because we need a convenient excuse to post the above photo.
Ex-Penguins on the Senators: Sergei Gonchar, D.
Ex-Senators on the Penguins: Ray Shero, general manager.
Useless Senators Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Current Penguins left winger Steve Sullivan holds the record for fastest hat trick against the Senators. As a member of the Predators, he scored three goals in a span of 5:56 in a 6-0 home Nashville win, Dec. 14, 2006.
Best Senators Video We Could Find: THIS! IS! ... A TERRIBLE RIP-OFF OF "300!":
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Probable goaltenders: Brent Johnson (2-3-2, 2.83 GAA, .899 SV%) for the Penguins and Alex Auld (0-3-2, 3.43 GAA, .875 SV%) for the Senators.
Injuries: For the Penguins, centers Jordan Staal ("lower body") and Joe Vitale (undisclosed) are questionable. Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (head) and center Sidney Crosby (head) are out. Defensemen Kris Letang (head), Ben Lovejoy (left wrist), Zbynek Michalek (head), Brian Strait (elbow), center Dustin Jeffrey (knee) and right winger Richard Park (foot) are on injured reserve. For the Senators, defenseman Sergei Gonchar ("upper body") and left winger Milan Michalek (concussion) are out. Defenseman Filip Kuba ("upper body") is on injured reserve.
-Potential Lines and Defensive Pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings at practice today were (PG+):
Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Pascal Dupuis - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Steve Sullivan - Joe Vitale - Matt Cooke
Eric Tangradi/Steve MacIntyre - Craig Adams - Arron Asham
Paul Martin - Deryk Engelland
Brook Orpik - Matt Niskanen/Zbynek Michalek
Alexander Picard - Simon Despres
-The Senators' primary lines and defensive pairings at practice today were:
Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Daniel Alfredsson
Nick Foligno - Peter Regin - Chris Neil
Kaspars Daugavins - Zack Smith - Erik Condra
Zenon Konopka - Jesse Winchester - Bobby Butler
Chris Phillips - Brian Lee
Jared Cowen - Erik Karlsson
David Rundblad - Matt Carkner
Notes:
-The Penguins recalled Tangradi and Picard from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this morning. (PG+)
-Zbynek Michalek will be a game-time decision.
-Orpik like to hit.
-Staal and Vitale are game-time decisions for tonight.
-The last time the Penguins and Senators played, this happened:
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-“I think that’s over and done with, that was a long time ago and I think it was all kind of blown out of proportion." - Foligno on his verbal sparring with Crosby last month.
-Dupuis has appeared in 699 career games and has 299 career points.
-Orpik has 99 career points.
-Asham has 199 career points.
-Malkin has 447 career points.
-Marc-Andre Fleury has 199 career wins.
-Martin has 197 career points.
-Picard has 47 career assists.
-Sullivan has 696 career points.
-Niskanen has 95 career points.
(Photo: Photobucket)