GAME DAY @ OTTAWA
In one of the most highly anticipated games of the year (certainly for Sens fans), the Red Wings (13-7-7) will look to lengthen their winning streak to three games and extend the gap between them and the Senators (10-12-4) in the standings.
The big story tonight is Daniel Alfredsson’s return to Canada’s Capital. Alfie played 1299 games with the Sens (including playoffs) and over that span he put up 1208 points. Alfredsson’s play in Ottawa inspired an almost cultish following that could be heard every game at the 11:11 mark in the period when the fans would shout “Alfie! Alfie!…
Fan reaction is divided when it comes to the question of why Alfredsson left and it should be interesting to see the reception he receives when he takes to the ice donning a Red Wings jersey.
A video tribute to Alfredsson is planned before the start of the game
In my opinion, anything less than a standing ovation and one more round of “Alfie!… chants would be embarrassingly disrespectful to a guy that helped turn a young franchise from the laughing stock of the league to a contender.
RED WINGS PREVIEW
The Wings are 4-1-0 since snapping the seven game winless streak and over the last three games they’ve scored 14 goals in spite of missing team-leading goal scorer Pavel Datsyuk.
Man of the hour, Daniel Alfredsson, is coming off a two goal night and has five points in his last three games. Continuing that offensive outburst against his former team would be particularly sweet.
Darren Helm had a two-goal night against the Islanders and has five goals in his last five games. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall is also getting in on the point parade as he is riding a five game point streak in which he has notched two goals and five assists.
Jonas Gustavsson (6-0-1) will get the start tonight and will try and continue his winning ways. The Monster will have his work cut out for him, the Senators have outscored the Wings 10-3 so far this year.
The Red Wings have been looking good lately and just need to stay the course to be successful against the Sens. The last time the two teams met was a penalty filled affair and both teams scored a pair of powerplay goals. The Wings need to stay out of the box and avoid letting the Senators get them off their game.
SENATORS PREVIEW
The Senators are struggling to find some consistency of late. They are 4-6-0 over their last ten games and haven’t won back-to-back games since November 9th. After a strong comeback win against the Capitals on Wednesday, the Sens allowed four goals in a second period collapse and eventually lost to the Canucks.
So far this season the Senators have dominated the Red Wings, particularly in their first meeting in which they won 6-1. A win to spoil Alfie’s return could be the rallying point the Sens need to string together some wins.
Sniper Bobby Ryan has five points in his last four games including a game winning goal against the Red Wings on November 23rd. The Ryan signing has been a huge boost for the Sens in Alfredsson’s absence. He leads the team in goals (13) and is second in points (25) only to Erik Karlsson.
PROJECTED LINES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
RED WINGS
Franzen – Zetterburg – Nyquist Abdelkader – Helm – Alfredsson Miller – Andersson – Tatar Cleary – Weiss - Samuelsson
Kronwall – Ericsson Quincey – Smith Kindl – Lashoff
Jonas Gustavsson (Starting) Jimmy Howard
Injuries: DeKeyser (shoulder), Datsyuk (upper body), Bertuzzi (upper body) SENATORS
Michalek – Spezza – Zibenajad MacArthur – Turris – Ryan Conacher – Smith – Neil Greening – Grant – Condra
Methot – Karlsson Cowen – Wiercioch Phillips – Borowiecki
Robin Lehner Craig Anderson
Injuries: None