A familiar face could be in the net for the Ottawa Senators as they host one of the league's hottest teams in a Saturday afternoon matinee.

Craig Anderson took his own net for Friday's practice, and afterward coach Guy Boucher said he was close, and it was up to Anderson himself when he was mentally ready to get back into game action. He hasn't played since allowing 7 goals to the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 5th, taking a leave of absence until the end of January to help his wife Nicholle through her battle with throat cancer.

The visiting New York Islanders have been on fire since replacing head coach Jack Capuano with Doug Weight. When Capuano was handed his pink slip, the Isles were in last place in the Eastern Conference, and just 10 games later, their 7-1-2 record has them knocking on the door of a wild card spot, holding games in hand on the teams they are chasing.

The Islanders are led, as usual by John Tavares, who has stepped it up even more under Weight, with 4 goals and 12 points in the ten games since the coaching change. Another factor for the Isles success could be the removal of Jaroslav Halak and the fact that the are no longer going with the dreaded three goalie system. Thomas Greiss has stepped up and assumed the starter's role with great success.

Another area that has improved dramatically with Weight at the helm has been the Islanders' special teams. They have 8 power play goals in their last 9 games (after having 16 in the first 43 games of their season), while allowing just 3 power play goals against in the same time frame (and 26 in the first 43 games).

For the Senators, they need to find a more complete effort, because that is the area that has been lacking in the last four or five games. They got two points from the Stars on Thursday, but it wasn't an example of the way the staff wants them to play.

This is the first game the Senators have played before 4:00 local time, so it is their first true matinee game under Boucher. They didn't have a great record in such starts under previous regimes and regardless of whether it is Anderson or Mike Condon in goal, Boucher will have to find a way to get his charges ready for the early puck drop. This will be a big test for the Senators in a lot of ways, as only the Capitals have a better winning percentage than the Islanders in the entire NHL over their last 10 games.

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