Thoughts go to those affected by the shootings in downtown Ottawa this morning. Stay safe as there are still many questions unanswered and police action still underway. Avoid going downtown, and if you are there, remain inside and avoid tweeting the location of officers and their actions, for the safety of everyone.

Obviously, tonight's game has been postponed indefinitely. Sorry for the lateness in getting that out, but my drive home that usually takes 45 minutes was in excess of 5 hours due to the delay from the events.


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The Battle of Ontario kicks off in earnest at CTC tonight when the blue and white invasion takes place for the first time this regular season. The Senators are looking to extend an Eastern Conference high 4 game winning streak and keep pace with the conference leading Montreal Canadiens.

The Leafs are coming in off Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Islanders, playing in back to back nights. Toronto scored 4 times on 13 shots in the second period, overcoming a 2-1 deficit. The Leafs sat back in the third and protected the lead but still allowed 17 shots against while managing just 5 of their own. Jonathan Bernier was good between the pipes for the Leafs, making 34 saves.

That means the Senators will likely see James Reimer staring them down from the Toronto crease tonight. Reimer has owned the Senators in his career, posting a 9-2-1 record in 13 games, with a 1.98 GAA and .944 SP. Compared with his career numbers of 2.85 and .914, and for some reason he plays unbelievably better against the Senators than most other teams.

Ottawa comes in well rested, with three full days off since they beat Columbus 3-2 on Saturday night.

From the look of practice on Tuesday, the Senators seem set to go with the same lineup as they did on Saturday, but with Paul MacLean at the helm that can always change on game day. That is what happened from Friday to Saturday, with Mike Hoffman being inserted in place of Erik Condra, which turned out to be a magical move by the coach.

The starting goalie will not be named until the game day skate, but look for Craig Anderson to get back in between the pipes. Both goalies have been great to start the season, and either netminder would be a good choice but Anderson came in as the #1, and has not really given a reason to have that mantle taken away.

Ottawa needs to get on the Leafs early and wear them down, using their fresh legs to grind the hopefully tired team with a strong forecheck and play the body on their defense, creating turnovers and playing the cycle game that they did so well in spurts against Columbus.

With the demotion of tough guys Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren to the Marlies, it could be the dawn of a kinder, gentler Battle of Ontario. Both teams come into tonight with just 1 fighting major each on the season, and the Leafs' lone fight was the epic heavyweight tilt between James van Riemsdyk and Simon Despres of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Last year, in the 4 games between the clubs, there were just 2 scraps, both involving McLaren, who fought Matt Kassian and Chris Neil in separate games. It seems like the Brian Burke strategy of truculence left along with him. The Leafs still have some agitators, and effective ones in the way overpaid David Clarkson and the underrated Leo Komarov, but neither are likely to drop the gloves.

The Leafs have shown a penchant for being explosive offensively, as evidenced by last night's second period. The Senators need to avoid falling into the traps that have plagued them so far this season where they get hemmed into their own end for extended periods of time. They have been able to get out of most of them unscathed thanks to great goaltending, but that can't hold up forever.

Toronto won 3 of the 4 meetings last season, with the Senators' win coming on the last night of the year, a 1-0 Craig Anderson shutout.

This is the third game of the Senators' four game homestand, which will wrap up on Saturday night when they host the Devils.

So, what do you think will happen tonight?