Make sure to follow Travis on Twitter!
--
After beating the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre on Tuesday, the Ottawa Senators headed due south for a Thursday night affair against the surging Dallas Stars.
The Stars weren't expected to be this competitive(14-9-1, T-1st in Pacific) after the loss of marquee center Brad Richards, but the team has really rallied around playing hard, physical hockey under new head coach Glen Gulutzan. In fact, there's some serious parallels to draw between the two teams tonight - making up for a potential devoid in talent by out-hustling the opposition on every single night.
And, the Stars remain one of the league's best teams on home ice, posting an 8-3-0 record through their first eleven games played at the American Airlines Center. Even without the venerable Kari Lehtonen(groin) in net, they'll pose the ultimate challenge for an Ottawa team trying to find some consistency in their game.
Losing Lehtonen for three weeks is going to hurt this Dallas team as a whole, but the coaching staff is hoping for a resurgence in the form of Andrew Raycroft, who will get the nod tonight. He's 1-5-0 in six appearances this year, with a .912 save pct and 3.08 GAA.
Speaking of injuries, Ottawa's caught a couple of breaks in the past couple of days. Nikita Filatov, who was thought to have broken his nose after being clipped by a skate in Tuesday's game, appears to just have some serious bruising. He'll skate tonight alongside Jason Spezza and Colin Greening.
Matt Carkner continues his rehabilitation, having been sent to the AHL for a conditioning stint. Looks like the Ottawa Senators will have eight defensemen on the NHL roster in the near future.
Chris Neil's set to make his return to the lineup in the near future, too. He's still day-to-day with an ankle injury, but progress has been made.
Unfortunately, Filip Kuba's going to be shelved indefinitely after a tough hit ran awkwardly ran him into the boards against Winnipeg. He won't play tonight, hence the appearance of both Brian Lee and David Rundblad in the lineup.
Craig Anderson gets the start tonight against Dallas. He's a career 3-1-0 against the Stars in six appearances, with a .902 save percentage and 3.38 GAA.
Puck drops at 8:30 PM ET on SNET-OTT.
Ottawa Senators
Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Nikita Filatov
Milan Michalek - Nick Foligno - Daniel Alfredsson
Kaspars Daugavins - Zack Smith - Erik Condra
Zenon Konopka - Jesse Winchester - Bobby Butler
Chris Phillips - Sergei Gonchar
Brian Lee - Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen - David Rundblad
Dallas Stars
Loui Eriksson - Jamie Benn - Michael Ryder
Steve Ott - Mike Ribeiro - Tomas Vincour
Eric Nystrom - Vernon Fiddler - Radek Dvorak
Krys Barch - Tom Wandell - Toby Peterson
Stephane Robidas - Sheldon Souray
Trevor Daley - Nicklas Grossman
Philip Larsen - Mark Fistric
Andrew Raycroft
Richard Bachman
--
Thanks for reading!
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»