The Ottawa Senators are a mess right now.
In recent games, the Sens have sustained injuries to key players.
Kyle Turris has sat out two straight games and Marc Methot has been on the shelf for three straight game. Both with undisclosed injuries.
Now, their enigmatic winger Milan Michalek is injured again.
The walking wounded are not holding up their end of the bargain and the Sens continue to nose dive down the Eastern Conference standings.
The Sens enter Sunday's game action with a 22-20-6 record. They have 50 points and are in 11th place in the Eastern playoff chase. They are 4-6 in their past 10 games.
They were embarrassed by a 5-2 beat down to the New York Islanders on home ice on Friday night. They were slapped 6-3 by the New Jersey Devils the night before.
Sens winger Milan Michalek suffered his second broken finger in the past two months while blocking a shot. Mikalek has played only eight games since returning from a 16-game absence due to the exact broken finger injury.
It's been that type of season for the Sens.
Veteran winger Bobby Ryan popped his cork and lambasted his team after Friday night's drubbing at the hands of the Islanders. Ryan roasted his teammates for their nonchalance and their failure to play Dave Cameron's system to a tee.
“It’s our job to play for 60 minutes and we had a problem in the third period,… he said. “We were all over the ice. When you’re not buying into the system, it’s going to take a toll.…
Ryan wasn't the only Sens leader to blast his listless teammates.
“It’s gut-check time for us here,… defenceman Mark Borowiecki said.
“For us to make a push to stay in the hunt, we have to look ourselves in the eye.…
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Sens are not about to embark on a miraculous 21-1-1 winning streak to end the season. The novelty of "The Hamburglar" has long since faded. The Sens are a middling hockey team even when healthy struggled to keep the puck out of their net. Andrew Hammond and Craig Anderson have allowed a combined 152 goals against in 48 games this season. Only Columbus has allowed more goals against at 159 in 48 games. The Sens are the 29th ranked penalty kill team in the NHL right now. They take dumb penalties and they allow teams to score on the man advantage.
They host the NY Rangers today and Buffalo on Tuesday.
The Rangers will fly straight home after today's tilt with Ottawa. The Rangers will host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night.
The Rangers enter Sunday's game with 57 points, good for third place in the Eastern Conference standings. The second place Florida Panthers have 61 points. If the Rangers earn four points against Ottawa and Buffalo, and, Florida loses to Toronto on Tuesday night, then the Rangers and Cats would be tied at 61 points at the NHL All Star break.
If morale doesn't improve soon, Bryan Murray may hang his "Seller" sign on his mailbox to inform his NHL GM peers that he is open for business at the February 29 NHL trade deadline.
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The 30th place Columbus Blue Jackets are having deja vu all over again with starting goalie Sergie Bobrovsky.
On Friday, the Jax placed "Bob" back on injured reserve after suffering a recurrence of the same groin injury that has sidelined him twice previously this season.
Bobrovsky is out indefinitely, according to the Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen.
The former Vezina winner had an MRI on Friday. His groin injury is a pull of the muscle – the tearing of muscle fibers – but is not the type that can be surgery repaired, Kekalainen said.
It's uncanny that Bobrovsky continues to pull the same groin in the same vicinity.
Why does this keep happening to him?
He is an active goalie and the constant stress and motion will cause wear and tear.
Bobrovsky has missed 43 games with groin injuries since the start of the 2013-14 season. That number will increase with his most recent kick in the groin. "Bob" has also missed nine other games with a broken finger (seven) and illness (two).
With 34 games remaining in the season, the only thing that Kekelainen should be concerned with right now is selling off and trading away assets in an effort to tank the rest of this season in order to put himself in a position to win the lottery to draft Auston Matthews first overall at the NHL Draft in Buffalo.
The Jax are 17-25-5 (39 points). They are 3-5-2 in their last ten games. The will play a home and home with Montreal on Monday and Tuesday before they take the All Star break.
Not that it matters, but Kekelainen now has a legitimate reason for why his team has been so gawd awful this season.
The critics will accuse him of tanking on purpose in order to finish 30th overall. Who cares?
Kekelainen has been open to any and all trade proposal that he has been presented with this season. You better believe that his phone will continue to rattle and hum in the next four weeks leading up to the NHL trade deadline.
Kekalainen will no doubt be getting calls on his star players like Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Brandon Dubinsky. I don't see him trading that trio, however, I can totally see him trading forwards Scott Hartnell, Cam Atkinson, Jared Boll, Gregory Campbell, and defenseman Fedor Tyutin, Jack Johnson, and Dalton Prout.
Tear it down to the studs, Jarmo.
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The Blue Jackets recalled goaltender Anton Forsberg from minor-league Lake Erie on Friday to back up Joonas Korpisalo.
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The Buffalo Sabres have a rare weekend off. They lost to Detroit on home ice on Friday night.
The players had a CBA-mandated day off on Saturday. They practice today, then fly to Manhattan Sunday night. They will meet the Rangers at MSG on Monday night.
Samson Reinhart joined his teammates at the annual Sabres UnPucked event on Saturday night. Reinhart was injured in a head to head collision with Colorado center John Mitchell at the end of the second period on Wednesday night. Blood was on the ice which suggested a head or face injury.
Reinhart was forced to sit out Friday night's loss to the Wings. Dan Bylsma said that the 20 year old would miss a week or so.
Reinhart appeared at Unpucked and looked none the worse for wear.
I spy a zipper on Samson's top lip. Battle scar from Wednesday night in Denver #Sabres #UnPucked pic.twitter.com/G5bdlcbynZ
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) January 24, 2016