any toes left?

Posted by Gord Wilson on March 24, 2008

Greetings, everyone, from Montreal and Happy Easter to you. Senators here for the first of a two-game road trip. First  game is against the Canadiens and then  off to Buffalo to face the Sabres tomorrow night.

After the 5-4 loss to the Leafs on Saturday, veteran winger Cory Stillman told me on our Senators All Access feature that tonight would be a must-win situation. With all due respect to the Leafs, the Senators did a lot to beat themselves on Saturday. In fact, that's been the story of this team over the  last few weeks. When they play their game and that game is consistent, the Senators are a tough team to beat.  When they're off... and they  turn the puck over like  they did against the  Leafs... the puck  usually ends up in the net and eventually costs the team. In  other words, this  team  must  stop  shooting itself in the foot... or feet.

So Ottawa will be out to play as error-free as possible tonight, but they also need production from their  big guns. Alfredsson, Heatley and Spezza must be better.  And Mike Fisher needs to produce. He clearly needs to loosen up a bit and stop trying to put the puck through the end boards. All that being said,  what a physical game he played Saturday night. He should benefit from having Chris Neil on his right  side on a more consistent basis.

This is Game 7 of the eight-game season-long series between the Senators and Canadiens. Senators lead the series 5-1, including a very convincing 3-0 win the last time they were here March 24.

Both teams will be missing some key  players from their lineups tonight. Habs without defenceman Mike Komisarek, who'll miss the rest of the regular season with a lower body injury. And Ottawa will be without forward Chris Kelly, who suffered a slight bonefracture in his left leg after blocking a shot in the  first period of Saturday's game.Randy Robitaille will draw back into the lineup for Kelly.

And I can tell you that Dean McAmmond won't play tonight either. He suffered a right thigh contusion during the Leaf game. His spot on the roster will be filled by Brian McGratton.

Martin Gerber gets the call in goal again tonight... a career-high 11th straight start. Carey Price expected to get the call for the Canadiens. Line combinations for the Senators tonight look like this... 15-19-11,,,61-12-25,,,27-20-28,,,5-10-16.

Tonight's game is a 7:30 start and can be seen on A-Channel with yours truly and Dean Brown and, of course, Dave Schreiber and Shaun Van Allen have the call on the Team 1200 Radio Network.

enjoy the game everyone,

cheers, gord