G75: Hurricanes @ Senators

A few thoughts in preparation for Ottawa's Monday night game against Carolina.

(1) We spoke about the brutality of back-to-back situations after Ottawa sort of thumped Chicago over the weekend. So, now, Ottawa gets to see the other side of that coin, and same objections to back-to-back spots apply. I'm kind of terrified to see how many shots the Carolina Hurricanes are going to put in the direction of Craig Anderson, who will start tonight.

Ottawa, for as good as they look sometimes offensively -- and, make no mistake, when they're clicking up top, they look really good -- are still a total disaster in the defensive third. This is a team that's conceded 1,866 shots on goal against this year at EV, which only beats out the likes of Buffalo and Toronto. They've also, if you're paying attention to this sort of stuff, moved into the illustrious 30th-overall position in the goals against column.

Carolina's a team pretty similar to Ottawa in that they're an OK hockey club that generates a ton of shots for, and concedes a ton of shots against. But they're rested, and Ottawa's not. So, there might be a bit of a gallery today. We'll see if Anderson can handle.

(2) This morning was an absolute flurry of developments for an otherwise meaningless game, and most of it stems from a run of injuries Ottawa's incurred over the past few days. We knew their luck would run out on this front, with Bobby Ryan going out first, followed by Colin Greening, who is apparently out semi long-term. Joining Ryan and Greening tonight in the injury department are Jared Cowen and Jason Spezza. The team, in preparation for the absences, are sending Cody Ceci and recently-recalled JG Pageau back into the lineup.

Both injuries here appear to be minor, but Spezza's injury is, as always, concerning. It's lower back injury number infinity for the captain, and it's probably the last thing Bryan Murray wanted to hear this morning.

I have no idea if it's unrelated to all of the prior lower-back injuries and corrective surgeries, but it seems more likely than not. This is what makes Bryan Murray's task regarding his potential extension of Spezza so challenging. The hands are there. The wizardry in the offensive zone are still there. But, the lower-back. The damn lower-back.

(3) We know that the Hemsky-Spezza-Michalek trio has been really fun since their assembly. They're still sort of objectionable on the defensive side of things -- the pair of goals they conceded yesterday against Calgary were rather unpleasant -- but man can they click up-top. And, as is always the case, I emphasize the importance of margins. If your defensive game isn't top-notch, you better out-score your deficits. Conversely, if you can't score to save your life, you better defend like it's going out of style. It's a general rule and I think an important one when evaluating a hockey player of any skill set.

Hemsky's been a dynamic add on Spezza's wing. It's clear the two have chemistry. So, it was interesting to hear Hemsky drop this in the pre-game today:

So, low-bar and all, considering his toughest competition is probably Shawn Horcoff. But, it sure sounds like Hemsky loves playing with the captain. Perhaps Ottawa does have a genuine leg-up on the competition when it comes to signing #83.

(4) Pierre McGuire voiced his opinion on the Bryan Murray/Paul MacLean dynamic, one that's really been dissected over the last 48-hours after Murray's peculiar lack of endorsement of the coaching staff. There's been a lot of debate over whether Bryan Murray was just being his usual, guarded self or had real and legitimate objections to how the coaching played out this season.

I guess we can firmly put McGuire in the second camp.

Thanks for reading!