Ben Bishop will get his seventh consecutive start in net for the Ottawa Senators against the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night, but Craig Anderson is getting close to returning after cutting the baby finger on his right hand.

A betting person might think Anderson would be back in action on Friday night at Montreal or on Saturday at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Senators coach Paul MacLean is not a betting man, though. As Anderson approaches the four-week anniversary of his accident on Thursday, MacLean has his fingers crossed.

“If it is Thursday, that’d be great, but at this point we’re not going to put a time on it,” MacLean said Monday.

“We’re going to see how (Anderson) does. Obviously he’s getting better. He’s practising. It’s four weeks on Thursday, which is a date the surgeons thought was important to get to, and we’ll take it day-by-day and see how it goes.”

Forward Jesse Winchester continues to inch back from a concussion, but it’s proving to be a long process.

He’s past the headache stage and past the stage of feeling lousy all day, but he still has moments of fuzziness.

He can only hope he’ll be cleared to play soon, but doesn’t know when that might be.

SPEZZA, GILROY AWAY

Centre Jason Spezza and defenceman Matt Gilroy both missed practice on Monday to attend memorial services.

Gilroy was at home on Long Island for the wake of a cousin who had died in a car accident, while Spezza was in Toronto for the funeral of Canadian freestyle skier Nik Zoricic, a close friend.

Spezza’s game hasn’t been as sharp recently, and MacLean said Zoricic’s death might have something to do with it.

“We’re all human,” MacLean said. “It’d be a distraction for him, and I think he has been a little bit distracted by that and rightfully so. He and his friend were real tight, and that has an affect on people.”

PLAYOFF BUZZ CUT

Daniel Alfredsson took his helmet off after practice to reveal his playoff hair cut: right to the bone.

“It got too hot,” he joked.

After two games here on the weekend in which Montreal and Toronto fans made the Senators feel like the visiting team, Alfredsson was looking forward to a home game against the Devils.

“New Jersey doesn’t have a habit of bringing their fans with them,” he said.