I don't normally do gameday previews in the typical fashion, like the one here written by the passionate hockey blogger, DaculaFan of the blog Fanthrashtic. However, to impress upon you the importance of winning today's contest against a reeling Sens squad, I wanted to provide some of the usual pre-game statistical fodder to reveal what this game means in the context of the NHL "playoffs race". I'll let you decide whether Atlanta should be included in that discussion after you review these nuggets gleaned from Dacula's blog:
-- Atlanta is currently in 11th place in the conference, tied in points with division rival Tampa Bay and only 1 point ahead of the Florida Panthers with 44 points
-- Ottawa is in 7th place in the league with 48 points but is on a 4 game skid
-- Ottawa is struggling this year on the power play with the league worst PP at 14.2% -- Atlanta's PP is 11th in the league at 19.9% (but slumping badly of late)
-- Ottawa has the 14th ranked PK at 82.2% and Atlanta is 22nd at 80% (uh oh!)
And lastly, a few more game-day points of my own to consider:
1) Center Jason Spezza is out with a MCL tear in his right knee and is not expected back until sometime in mid-February (probably after the Olympics)
2) LW Milan Michalek -- a very important 2-way player -- is now out for an indefinite time due to a concussion he recently suffered 3 games ago
3) RW Daniel Alfredsson has missed 8 games with a separated shoulder. He is traveling with the team, but his status for tonite is most likely doubtful
4) Center Jesse Winchester -- a banging 4th liner who provides energy -- is now out until the middle of February with a messed-up knee cap
5) D-man Filip Kuba is questionable as well (the old day-to-day deal) with an upper body injury and it is not clear whether he'll suit up tonite
6) RW, and Thrasher killer of late (probably because we traded him), Shean Donovan is back down on the 4th line where he might do some more damage against our newly demoted "stars" Todd White and Slava Kozlov, who have not been earning their combined $6.3 M gross pay
After seeing that juicy 6-pack of information, you can see why I think this game is not only winnable, but a must-win. Lose here and confidence plummets even further. Hopefully, Ondrej Pavelec can capture some of that early season magic against a team he completely owned back on 11/1/09 with 50 miraculous saves (one off of his unmasked neck / facial area even!). Hope.
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