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UPDATE: Lineups for the game. Lazar, Hoffman and Cowen come out with Wiercioch, Greening and Condra in. Anderson will start

MacArthur- Turris - Stone
Ryan - Zibanejad - Chiasson
Neil - Legwand - Michalek
Greening - Smith - Condra

Phillips - Karlsson
Wiercioch - Ceci
Gryba - Borowiceki

Interesting, some will be happy, some won't just like every other decision made by this club.....Discuss amongst yourselves!

Also, Luongo will start for Florida, not Montoya as I had guessed earlier, and that might be a good thing (below)

It is a Thanksgiving Monday game day as the Ottawa Senators wrap up their season opening 3 game road trip, trying to come home with 4 of a possible 6 points. That would really be a coup given the uneven way they have come out of the gate, and despite the perception of the way the team has played, points in October count just as much as points in March. If someone told you last Wednesday that the Senators would win 2 of 3 on the trip you would have probably been very happy as a Sens fan, and that is the chance they have in front of them.

It has been a roller coaster start to the season and I think the staff and organization are just looking for some consistency. A 60 minute effort is something that will generate positivity whether the team wins or loses. Anything less, win or lose, against the Panthers will continue the feeling of uneasiness. This is a game the Senators should win, talent for talent, and it will come down to realizing that effort will determine success in this one.

Chris Phillips didn't practice on Sunday, said to be a routine maintenance day for the veteran. Phillips' absence made it tough to determine if Patrick Wiercioch will get a shot in favor of Jared Cowen, who was seemingly benched after the Lightning goal that tied the game at 2 in the third period on Saturday night.

The revamped forward lines looked like this:

Clarke MacArthur - Kyle Turris - Mark Stone
Bobby Ryan - Mika Zibanedad - Alex Chiasson
Milan Michalek - David Legwand - Chris Neil
Curtis Lazar - Zack Smith - Mike Hoffman

with Colin Greening and Erik Condra continuing to be the extra skaters.

Paul MacLean didn't name a starting goalie as of yet, and will do that sometime today. I will have the update when it is available, as well as any lineup changes for the Sens.

The starter for the Panthers has not been confirmed yet either, after Roberto Luongo got shelled on Saturday night by the Devils (5 goals on 14 shots in 23 minutes) and was replaced by Al Montoya. It might be Montoya who gets his first start in the Florida net against Ottawa. The Senators have not scored on him in Montoya's last two appearances against Ottawa - he made 12 saves in relief of Ondrej Pavelec last March in a Sens win over the Jets, and he famously shut out the Senators making 33 saves in a 1-0 win on Hockey Day in Canada, Feb 9, 2013.

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One of the pleasant surprises early in this season for the Senators has been the play of Kyle Turris. While many (including myself) wondered how he would be able to step up as the true #1 pivot in the absence of Jason Spezza on a full-time basis, Turris has been very good. Aside from the turnover at the Sens blue line that led to the winning goal in Nashville, I don't know how much better Turris could be during in game play.

And considering how invisible Bobby Ryan has been for much of the first two games, that says a lot. If Clarke MacArthur had been able to cash in on a couple of the multitude of great scoring chances set up by Turris, the centre might have more than the 2 points he currently does. However, if the Senators are going to compete, their top centre needs to have a better faceoff percentage than the team-low 39.4% Turris is checking in at.

Again, still early but as far as I am concerned, Turris is on the right track in most aspects of the game. It is a marathon, not a sprint and the true test might come after the 50 game mark.

I think that is enough cliches for one day. If you are having your Thanksgiving turkey today, enjoy it! If you had it yesterday, enjoy your leftovers today.

And most importantly, enjoy the game and for Senators fans hopefully you get to give thanks for a Senators win.

Leave a comment with your prediction for the game!

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