The Ottawa Senators would be more optimistic about ending
the first half of their season on a high note if they knew exactly
who was going to be playing in the band.
Missing from Monday's practice were center Matt Duchene, who has
the flu, as well as centers Derick Brassard and Nate Thompson, plus
defensemen Johnny Oduya and Cody Ceci
Coach Guy Boucher wasn't sure if any of the five would be available
for tonight's home game against Chicago.
"They could be all out and they could be all in," Boucher said. "It
could be half-and-half. I don't know."
While there's a chance defenseman Mark Borowiecki could return from
a concussion that has kept him out since November, former first
rounder Colin White has already been recalled and is expected to
replace Thompson, who played less than two minutes of Saturday's
victory over Tampa Bay. More help from the farm could be on the way
for the disappointing Senators (14-17-9), who are riding a rare
two-game winning streak as they hit the midway pole.
"It's been like this all year, to be honest with you," Boucher
said. "Whenever we've had a good stretch of games it's been the
same thing, we've had injuries and guys sick. It's been tough to
battle all year."
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are still on the outside looking in at
the playoff picture as they kick off the second half of their
season in Ottawa, and that's despite some recent success with their
own injury issues to No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford and veteran center
Artem Anisimov.
With a 3-1-1 record that is identical to the Senators run in the
last five games, the Blackhawks (20-15-6) listened to a pre-game
speech from captain Jonathan Toews before beating the Edmonton
Oilers 4-1 on Sunday.
"He said 'let's treat every game going up to (next week's bye week)
as a playoff game'," forward Vinnie Hinostroza told the Chicago
Sun-Times. "If we go into it with that mindset and win every
period, why can't we go on a little run here before and carry the
momentum after the break?"
This will be the first meeting of the season between the Senators
and the Blackhawks. Last season, the Senators beat the Blackhawks
4-3 in Chicago while the Blackhawks won 2-1 in Ottawa.
The Senators will stick with Craig Anderson, and not just because
he grew up just outside Chicago and started his career with the
Blackhawks. Anderson is currently riding his first two-game winning
streak since Nov. 10-11, and the Senators really need their No. 1
goalie to get on a roll.
The Blackhawks have not yet announced if they'll go with 32-year
old journeyman Jeff Glass, who was a third-round pick of the
Senators in 2004, or Anton Forsberg, who made 32 saves against the
Oilers to pick up his first win in two months and only the third of
his 23-game career.
Coach Joel Quenneville has only said he'll use Forsberg in Ottawa
or back home Wednesday, when the Blackhawks host the Minnesota Wild.
