Ottawa Senators Fan Blog

FOURTH STRAIGHT START FOR GERBER

Martin Gerber will start tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers. This will be Gerber's fourth straight start. He is 1-2-0 in his previous three games.

Gerber seems to thrive when he gets a lot of starts in a row, but the Senators are expected to turn to Alex Auld on Friday night versus Anaheim. Gerber is expected to get the start in Toronto on Satruday night. The only way this will change is if Gerber plays lights out tonight. Even if Auld shuts out the Ducks on Friday, Gerber will likely return with a start in Toronto.

SPEZZA GETS DEMOTED

It looks as if this accountability thing Craig Hartsburg was preaching during his first press conference was not just lip service. Jason Spezza, who showed virtually no desire to compete on Saturday night will now find himself on the second line centering two of the hardest working skaters on the team. Nick Foligno and Jesse Winchester will play on his wings.

Mike Fisher gets promoted to top line center and will play with Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. Fisher and Heatley have shown good chemistry together in the past, and are often paired in 4 on 4 situations. Fisher and Alfredsson have never seemed to click.

This is a great move by Hartsburg. Spezza will either learn to play with some heart and lay the odd bodycheck, or he is going to find himself watching some games from the press box. He should not go out there and try to run guys over, but he should get his body involved more to win some puck battles.

But Fisher may not be the right guy to go to the top line. The hope here is that if Fisher is not the answer, that Hartsburg doesn't instantly promote Spezza back to first line duty, but instead put Antoine Vermette in his place on the top line. Vermette may be the better player to go alongside Alfredsson and Heatley because Verms is more of a puck possession guy. He plays Spezza's role better than Fisher does.

Time will tell. This is going to shake things up for sure, and Hartsburg is making it very clear that no one is bigger than this team.

BACK-TO-BACK FOR GERBER

Craig Hartsburg has decided to play Martin Gerber for the second time in as many nights. There was speculation that Hartsburg would go with Alex Auld tonight as these are back-to-back games. Also, the Senators are playing the Boston Bruins, Auld's team of a year ago. So Hartsburg is electing to go with Gerber even though Auld is likely fired up to play against his former team.

This is the right move. Hartsburg obviously wants to get Gerber on a roll, playing a bunch of games in a row. When we look back to last season, Gerber seemed at his best when he got a large number of consecutive starts. At the beginning of the season, Gerber started almost every game through to mid-December, and he was mostly terrific during that span. At the end of the year, when Murray nailed Ray Emery to the bench, Gerber also performed well. This carried over into the first round series against Pittsburgh, and Gerber was perhaps Ottawa's best player in what was otherwise a debacle.

It is apparent that Hartsburg really wants Gerber to show the form of a number one goaltender, and he is giving him ample opportunity to show it.

Team Records:
Boston (1-1-1; 3)
Ottawa (2-1-1; 5)

Starting Goaltenders:
Boston - Manny Fernandez - 0-1-0 | 4.07 GAA | .846 SV%
Ottawa - Martin Gerber - 1-1-1 | 3.28 GAA | .907 SV%

Injuries:
Boston - Chuck Kobasew (RW) - Ankle, IR;
Ottawa - None

Puck Drop:
7:08 pm

ALFREDSSON A GAME TIME DECISION

Well the quick healer is at it again. Daniel Alfredsson is going to take the pre-game skate tonight and decide then if he will play against the Phoenix Coyotes. My understanding is that Alfredsson feels 100%, but his common sense is kicking in here as he wants to consult with team doctors before playing. He is expected to do this today, take the pre-game skate regardless and then we'll all find out together. Exacerbating this decision is the fact that the Senators play back-to-back games tonight and tomorrow, when they'll face off against the Bruins.

My expectation is that we will not see Alfredsson tonight, but instead tomorrow night against Boston. Many fans have expressed that they would like to see Alfredsson fully heal before returning. From what I hear, Alfie will only play if he is 100% healthy and certain that doing so will not cause any damage whatsoever.

Tonight's game will go a long way in either healing or further damaging fan confidence in the play of Martin Gerber in goal. A solid, 60 minute game with zero bad goals is imperative tonight for Gerber. Craig Hartsburg and the Sens room to a man are all saying the right things to the media that they have confidence in Gerbs, but the fact of the matter is they have to be feeling just a little uneasy based on the bad goals at bad times he has allowed.

Team Records:
Phoenix (2-1-0)
Ottawa (1-1-1)

Starting Goaltenders:
Phoenix - Ilya Bryzgalov - 2-1-0 | 2.33 GAA | .926 SV%
Ottawa - Martin Gerber - 0-1-1 | 3.41 GAA | .901 SV%

Injuries:
Phoenix - Jonas Ahnelov (D) - Hand, IR; Joel Perrault (C), Concussion, Day-to-Day.
Ottawa - Daniel Alfredsson (RW) - Knee, Game time decision; Chris Phillips (D) - Ankle, Probable.

Puck Drop:
7:08 pm

FOLIGNO PROMOTED, PHILLIPS OK, GERBER TO START

Nick Foligno's fine play through the young season has earned him a spot on the first line, and is currently practicing alongside Jason Spezza and Dany Heatley. Craig Hartsburg has noted that he could change his mind at a moment's notice.

Hartsburg has also switched up the other lines. He currently has Antoine Vermette with Mike Fisher and Jesse Winchester. Fisher and Vermette's speed combined with Winchester's ability to maintain puck possession makes this a line with a lot of potential. If it clicks, Alfredsson's return to the top line will make Ottawa that much tougher to play against. Not to mention that Foligno would be paired with Chris Neil and Chris Kelly on the third line which can also cause opponents some fits.

On the injury front, while there are reports that Alfredsson could play as early as Friday (Ottawa's next game), it is more likely that he will return to the lineup against the Florida Panthers two games and five days later. Certainly if he returns earlier, Foligno's promotion should be short lived. Chris Phillips was seen limping after Saturday night's loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Turns out, he took a couple of shots of the same ankle which opened a stitch requiring gash.  Phillips did not practice yesterday, but he should be fine for Friday night against Phoenix.

Hartsburg also announced that Martin Gerber will start in goal on Friday night. He will determine Saturday probably based on Gerber's performance against the Coyotes.