Playoff roster for Senators Thursday night
Even though the Boston Bruins have brought a B team to Ottawa — no Tim Thomas, no Zdeno Chara, no Patrice Bergeron — Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean is dressing what looks a reasonable fascimile of his playoff lineup for tonight’s game at Scotiabank Place.
Even though the Boston Bruins have brought a B team to Ottawa — no Tim Thomas, no Zdeno Chara, no Patrice Bergeron — Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean is dressing what looks a reasonable fascimile of his playoff lineup for tonight’s game at Scotiabank Place.
The one significant difference is that Ben Bishop will start in goal, with post-season starter Craig Anderson serving as back-up. Matt Gilroy, Kaspars Daugavins, Rob Klinkhammer. Zenon Konopka and Alex Auld will be healthy scratches.
If the Senators pick up a single point from the game, or if Washington fails to defeat the the Florida Panthers tonight, the teams will meet each other in the playoffs next week.
The Bruins have opted to rest their stars. Veteran minor league goaltender Anton Khudobin is expected to make his NHL debut for the Bruins.
MacLean, however, isn’t taking that route.
While it’s possible that injuries can occur in a game – it happened to former Senators defenceman Wade Redden in a regular season finale many years ago – MacLean says he’s not letting that bother him as the club closes out the season.
“If you let it, it can (be a concern),” he said following Thursday’s morning skate. “But it could happen in Game 2, as well, or Game 52 or Game 67. A lot of our players want to play, too. They want to play 82 games. They have some things that they take a lot of pride in – having the ability to play in 82 games or 80 games, that’s a big part of a player’s resume, that you can be consistent and we want to give them that opportunity.”
Additionally, too much time off can become a negative, as well. A series between the Senators and Bruins isn’t likely to start until next Thursday.
“It’s a long time between games,” said MacLean. “If you don’t play tonight, don’t play the next game and don’t play for 10 days, that’s a big chunk of time, so we try to consider all the factors and make the decisions that our best for our team.”
Senators players were trying not to make too much of the contest being a potential playoff game, but the goal is to play as hard as possible to get into playoff mode, regardless of the opposition.
I believe these players deserves to play in the playoff, they did good when SENS won some important games down the stretch: Kaspars Daugavins and Rob Klinkhammer
Question is: Butler will be a good insurance player but he’s got to give his best in the post season, also we havent seen much of Da Costa since he was sent down. Imagine if we had a healthy Regin in the lineup all year, Regin would have give a huge boost on our second or 3rd line. Turris played well with Michalek, maybe try playing him with Michalek and Spezza and see how that goes? Alfie will be a great contributer to the second line by helping Greening and Foligno and or Daugavins and Condra. In the first round, stay positive and play with discipline, the Bruins are a team that can push by making their oponent taking penalties and or making mistakes when they get tired, keep that anger inside and play smart, block the open lanes and success will be there. I Believe, Go SENS
Wish Zack Smith had a break, he has struggled for a month or so now. Wouldn’t mind seeing Da Costa again, see if he has picked up his pro game. Wish Gilroy would have come around but he too has struggled. Carkner is better suited for the Bruins, as his size will help against the beligerent Bruins. Good to see if Bishop can come back, if not I am confident that Lehner is a good backup. I want the Sens to win of course, but I am very excited about the future and the fight for next years positions on the team. Stone, Silverberg, Noesen, Zibanejad, Da Costa, Regin, and who knows maybe Prince, Filatov and Puempel!Along with this years experienced players, I think the future is very good for the Sens.