It's down to two people. Ryan with 105 points and Amelia with 95 points. After round three, Amelia predicted the Kings win the Stanley Cup so she has a 20 point bonus if the Kings prevail. Ryan predicted the Devils win the cup and thus would get a 20 point bonus if his team wins.

There are no more bonuses available, but the regular points for a series prediction is still there. Assuming they keep their picks, this series will decide the Stanley Cup winner and more importantly...the winner of a new Sens hat. Here are the standings after round three.

Click here to make your prediction for the final.

I should really just stop trying at this point. After predicting only two of the eight series correctly in the first round, I followed up by predicting exactly none of the four series correctly in the second round. For the second straight round, my Stanley Cup winner was eliminated in five games.

Here is the form for your picks for round three. Predictions are now closed for this round. This is your last chance to change your Stanley Cup winner, the bonus is now reduced to 20 points. I will post a link to the standings tomorrow.

Here are the standings after round two.

Well, the first round of the playoff predictions didn't go too well for me. I only correctly predicted Washington and New Jersey to win the first round and my Stanley Cup winners lost in five games. Still, it is now time for round two. I haven't had the chance to update the round one scoring as it just ended last night, but you can check here to see your predictions.

Reminder once again:

• 15 points for predicting the series winner and the right number of games.
• 10 points for predicting series winner but not the right number of games.
• If you would like to change your Stanley Cup winner now, then only 30 points are available. If you stay with your original pick, it is still worth 40 points.

Note: From here onwards, we will be using a google document form for the picks. Please don't enter your picks in the comments. Click here to enter the picks.

You have heard all the expert predictions for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but really what we all want to know is how do the readers of Silver Seven think the first round will turn out. Well, here is your chance in graphical form.

As you can see, we are shameless homers, with the large majority (45 out of 59) predicting Ottawa wins the first round. Out of the 59 people, 58 of them also made a Stanley Cup winner prediction. Pittsburgh leads the way with 18 people backing them to win the cup. Vancouver and Nashville are second at 9, with St. Louis and Ottawa following at 6 each (!!!).

Yours truly picked Ottawa, Washington, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, San Jose, Chicago and Detroit with the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup.

Reminder: Mark will be on Blue Shirt Underground this evening at 9:30pm EST to talk about the first round matchup with some Rangers fans. Click that link if you want to participate!

More to follow.

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Greetings to all. Just like last year, we are going to have a competition for predicting the winner of each series at the start of each round. The overall winner will get some sort of Sens related prize. The scoring is similar to last year with an additional bonus for predicting the cup champion.

• 10 points if correctly predicting the winning team, but not the number of games.
• 15 points if correctly predicting both the winning team and the number of games.
• 40 points for predicting the Stanley Cup winner before the start of round one. This can be changed before round two, but then only 30 points for available. The last chance to change the pick is before the conference final, where 20 points are available for predicting the champion.

Click after the jump for the series. Please state your predictions in a new comment - do not reply to another comment.

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The Ottawa Senators have come a long way. The season started with a 5-3 loss in Detroit on 7 October 2011 (exactly six months ago) and the Senators would allow five goals or more in four of their first six games. Ottawa was 1-5-0 after the first six games and had just been torched 7-1 at home by Philadelphia. However, the Senators would go on to win the next six games and would stay in the playoff hunt for the remainder of the season.

The regular season will draw to an end today but the Senators season will not. Today's game doesn't mean too much but it will help decide their playoff opponents.

Scenario 1: Ottawa plays Boston in round one if:

• Ottawa picks up a point against New Jersey, OR...
• Washington loses to the New York Rangers, OR...
• Florida loses in regulation to Carolina.

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It's the penultimate game of the regular season (you are welcome Mark)(TOO LATE, ADNAN!) and the last one at home when the Ottawa Senators host the Providence Boston Bruins tonight. The Bruins are locked into the second seed while the Senators will finish in seventh unless they lose their last two games in regulation and the Capitals win their final two games.

The Bruins will be without Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tim Thomas. The Senators will ice a full lineup though with Sergei Gonchar returning. Rob Klinkhammer will also return in the place of Kaspars Daugavins. Ben Bishop will get the start so Alex Auld can concentrate on the puzzles from the press box.

Here are the lines from TSN.

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Zack Smith - Jim O'Brien - Chris Neil
Rob Klinkhammer - Jesse Winchester - Erik Condra

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Chris Phillips - Matt Carkner
Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar

Ben Bishop (starter)
Craig Anderson (glaring at Brennan)

More after the jump.

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The primary season is drawing to a close and while the Bruins have had the edge, both the Senators and the Bruins will be the nominees and likely face off in a general series next week. Ottawa has also earned the endorsement of a former Senator as the battle heats up (Note: This endorsement may not be real). On the other hand, the great antagonist Tim Thomas won't travel to their rival's home city and instead concentrate on strengthening their base for next week's showdown in Massachusetts.

While not much is on the line tonight with both nominations all but wrapped up, this hasn't stopped Ottawa's campaign staff from producing a stirring video (see below) to motivate their loyal supporters.

Can the Senators beat the mighty Bruins starting next week? Yes we can!
Will we have a change in the Stanley Cup champions? That's change we can believe in!
Can a Senator outduel an opponent from Massachusetts? Well...you get the idea.

More after the jump.

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Remember how the Ottawa Sun had a problem with Brian Elliott's responses to the media? Well, now it turns out Don Brennan has a similar issue with Craig Anderson. Commenting on the lack of original insight from Anderson, Brennan feels it isn't worth it for reporters to fully listen to what the goaltender has to say.

Could this be the start of a new feud with a Senators goaltender? Do the players have to be entertaining for the media for them to be liked? Hopefully this doesn't become an issue going forward.

Some links to follow after the jump.

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It's the second last home game of the season, a playoff spot has been clinched, but there are still some meaningful points on the line. Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson will return to the lineup, but Sergei Gonchar will sit out with a minor injury. Here are the lines from TSN.

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Erik Condra - Zack Smith - Chris Neil
Kaspars Daugavins - Jim O'Brien - Jesse Winchester

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Chris Phillips - Matt Gilroy
Jared Cowen - Matt Carkner

Craig Anderson (starter)
Alex Auld (sudoku)

More after the jump.

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Joe Haggerty is a Boston reporter that covers the Bruins and feels that they would prefer to play the Ottawa Senators. Of course when Haggerty asked Brian Rolston if he had a preference, Rolston wouldn't bite. Still, Haggerty feels that if the Bruins could speak candidly, they would prefer to play Ottawa instead of Buffalo or Washington. Buffalo is actually no longer an option for Boston (but it was the time of writing).

Really though, can you blame the Bruins if they feel that way? They have dominated Ottawa for years, are 4-1-0 against them this season and Tim Thomas' career save percentage is 0.937 against Ottawa. Craig Anderson meanwhile has been brutal against Boston this season, allowing 14 goals and sporting a 0.860 save percentage in three games against them.

On the plus side, Erik Karlsson seems to have figured out Tim Thomas, scoring a goal in each of the last three games against Boston. Jason Spezza has six points in five games against Boston while Daniel Alfredsson has five in four games. Also, the Senators have blown a two-goal lead late in the second period as well as another loss that was a tie game midway through the third. Ottawa has been able to score goals against Boston (well better than in the past anyway), but the key will be if Craig Anderson can play better than he did during the regular season.

More after the jump.

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The Ottawa Senators have clinched a playoff spot but they still have three games left to go in the season. They can use this time to rest some players and/or try to potentially move up a spot. As it stands right now, the Senators have an 87.7% probability of playing the Boston Bruins in the first round. The general thinking among fans appears to be to try and avoid the Bruins in the first round. The best chance Ottawa has of doing that is to either finish 3-0-0 or to finish 0-3-0.

Should the Senators win all three games (including the one against New Jersey in regulation) and the Devils pick up no more than two points against the Islanders and the Red Wings, then Ottawa will finish sixth. Winning all three games is certainly possible, with home games against Carolina and Boston. The Bruins have already clinched the second seed and cannot move any higher, so the final three games are meaningless for them. If Ottawa cannot finish sixth, the other way to avoid Boston would be to finish eighth. The Capitals would have to gain four more points than the Senators over the final three games.

Aside from that, some players are also near some personal milestones. Erik Karlsson with 77 points is three points behind Nicklas Lidstorm's record of 80 points by a Swedish defenceman. The 80 points are also the most by any defenceman since the lockout. Karlsson also needs one more goal to break the club record for goals by a defenceman. Daniel Alfredsson is at 58 points and two more points would make him the fourth Senator with 60 points this season. Jason Spezza is on 32 goals, which is only two less than his career high.

Lastly as Darren poked fun at me after I labelled Darren Kramer's pick a waste, I would just like to point out this quote from Darren in our preseason predictions.

I look forward to showing Adnan and Dave their predictions at the end of the season and laughing at them.

Check after the jump for my response to Darren.

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The Ottawa Senators have had their fortunes change wildly in the last two weeks. On 17 March, the Senators woke up in first place in their division, but on 24 March they had lost three in a row and had their lead for the last playoff spot down to two points. Today, Ottawa has a four point lead on Buffalo, plus a game in hand. A win before the shootout today would officially clinch a playoff spot for the Senators as they would hold a six point lead (and a lead of four in the non-shootout wins) with three games left. On the other hand, if the Bruins match or better Ottawa's result, they will clinch the division title. Realistically speaking, any win would clinch a playoff spot, as the head-to-head is even and Ottawa has a lead of 21 goals in the goal difference. But, it must be before the shootout to be official.

No practise today but Jesse Winchester is expected to return to the lineup according to Bruce Garrioch. At the time of writing, it isn't known who he will replace, but Rob Klinkhammer, Zack Smith and Kaspars Daugavins had limited ice time in Philadelphia.

More after the jump.

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After a long break, the Ottawa Senators will finally return to action when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers. A week from today, the regular season will end and the Senators will finish with five games in eight days. After having played more games than most teams for the majority of the season, Ottawa actually has a game in hand on both Buffalo and Washington. Ottawa holds a two point lead, plus a game in hand, plus the tiebreaker on Buffalo. They have a similar lead on Washington, however, the Capitals hold the tiebreaker.

With the two point game as well as the extra games and the tiebreaker, today's game isn't a must win. But it would be nice to win anyway wouldn't it? Here are the lines from Nicolas St-Pierre.

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Chris Neil - Jim O'Brien - Rob Klinkhammer
Kaspars Daugavins - Zack Smith - Erik Condra

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Chris Phillips - Sergei Gonchar
Jared Cowen - Matt Carkner

Craig Anderson (starter)
Alex Auld (sudoku)

More after the jump.

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It's that time again when I have nothing else to write about. So here are the preferred outcomes for tonight's games, as judged by me, the supreme decider of all things good for the Sens.

Buffalo Sabres versus Washington Capitals
This is the big one for the Senators. Ottawa sits four points ahead of both clubs though the Senators have an extra game played. Since Ottawa owns the tiebreaker with Buffalo, but not with Washington, the preferred outcome is that the Capitals win. Should the Capitals win in regulation, Ottawa would have a four point lead over the Sabres plus the tiebreaker, essentially making it a five point lead with five games left. Because of the tiebreaker there is no significant difference to the Senators between a Buffalo regulation win or a Washington overtime win.
Best case: Washington in regulation.

Chicago Blackhawks versus New Jersey Devils
The Senators are still in touching distance of sixth place and playing the Florida Panthers. New Jersey has a two point lead and a game in hand. Should the Devils lose in regulation tonight, Ottawa will control its own destiny for sixth place as they have a game left with the Devils on the final day of the season. Ottawa would win a potential tiebreaker.
Best case: Chicago in regulation.

Florida Panthers versus Montréal Canadiens
This is a slightly tough one. Florida is a point behind Ottawa so even if Washington and Buffalo go on a tear, Ottawa could still make it if the Panthers collapse. However, Florida has a really easy schedule, so they are not going to miss the playoffs. It is best if they win the division should Ottawa take sixth.
Best case: Florida win.

Tampa Bay Lightning versus Boston Bruins
For all realistic purposes, the division race is over. Boston has a three point lead and two games in hand. But, Ottawa does have a game left with Boston, so one never knows if Ottawa can run the table.
Best case: Tampa Bay in regulation.

More after the jump.

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The Ottawa Senators will visit the land of no parks when they play the Winnipeg Hockey Jets. The Jets are down to their last breath in terms of the playoff race, sitting six points behind Washington and Buffalo, although the Jets have a game in hand. Winnipeg is likely already out, but a win tonight by Ottawa would pretty much put eliminate the Jets from catching the Sens. Should the Senators prevail in regulation tonight, they'll have a 10-point lead over the Jets with Winnipeg having six games left. So then, a win and Ottawa has just one more team left to eliminate before they clinch a playoff spot.

Here are the lines for your Ottawa Senators courtesy of Sylvain St-Laurent.

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Nick Foligno - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Kaspars Daugavins - Zack Smith - Erik Condra
Rob Klinkhammer - Jim O'Brien - Chris Neil

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar
Chris Phillips - Matt Carkner

Craig Anderson (starter)
Alex Auld (sudoku, he's up to "hard" now thanks to time in the press box)

More after the jump.

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The general consensus has been that Matt Gilroy's time in Ottawa has been a disaster so far. Brought in to be an offensive defenceman, Gilroy has just a single point in 11 games since the trade. He's been very eager to jump into the rush but has very little to show for it. His defensive play has also left a lot to be desired.

Given his lack of offensive production, and his defensive problems, he was replaced by Matt Carkner on Saturday night. Taking a look at the Senators even strength scoring chances (courtesy of The 6th Sens) with Gilroy on the ice, things do look a little better for him.

His first game was the 1-0 win over Boston, even strength scoring chances were even at 7-7 with Gilroy on the ice. In the 2-1 loss to Chicago, in which Ottawa was outchanced 26-16 overall, the Senators actually outchanced Chicago 9-4 with Gilroy on the ice. Without Gilroy on, Chicago had a 22-7 lead on Ottawa. The 4-2 loss to Florida was the only game in which Ottawa was outchanced with Gilroy in, the chances being 3-4 against Ottawa. In the 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, chances were even at 7-7, and they were 5-0 in Ottawa's favour in the 4-1 win over the New York Rangers. Continuing with this theme, chances were 7-5 against Buffalo, 8-5 and 3-1 in the back-to-back games against Montréal. In the 3-1 loss to Toronto, once again Ottawa outchanced the opposition with Gilroy on the ice, this time by an 8-4 count. In his last two games, the chances were 5-2 against New Jersey and 5-4 in the demolition in Montréal on Friday.

So in the 11 games, Ottawa has outchanced the opposition in 8 games with Gilroy on the ice, been even in two, and was outchanced by the opposition just once. The total chances have been 67-43 in Ottawa's favour. This is not to say that he has been spectacular, the one point in 11 games against third line competition shows that he hasn't been. But the Senators are still creating far more scoring chances than they are allowing with Gilroy on the ice. A little better finishing (especially by Gilroy himself) and things might look a lot better.

More after the jump.

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What a difference a week makes. Last Sautrday, the Ottawa Senators woke up as the second seeds in the eastern conference. Since then, the Senators lost three consecutive games, all in regulation. The Buffalo Sabres on the other hand won three games and lost one in overtime. That is seven points that Buffalo has gained on Ottawa in just one week. While the Senators are playing the Penguins, the Sabres will host a Minnesota team that is playing out the string.

Given recent results and the quality of tonight's opponent, it would be easy to panic. But all it takes is a couple of wins and suddenly things are looking much brighter, especially with only a handful of games left to hang on.

Ben Bishop will get the start and both Kaspars Daugavins and Matt Carkner will return to the lineup in the place of Zenon Konopka and Matt Gilroy. I can't find the lines today so use your imagination.

Yours truly will be at the game, so try to make do without me.

More after the jump.

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It is a huge game for the Ottawa Senators tonight. The Buffalo Sabres have closed to within four points of Ottawa and while the Senators are still in a commanding position, there is a small chance of things slipping away. With the red hot Pittsburgh Penguins in town tomorrow, it is imperative for the Senators to win tonight.

Craig Anderson will make his return and will get the start while Ben Bishop will back him up. You might feel sorry for Alex Auld, but have you ever tried to solve a Sudoku puzzle on a bench with 20,000 obnoxious Habs fans around you? Jason Spezza will also return, and Bobby Butler will return to being a healthy scratch. I don't know what the lines are but Zack Smith will play on the second line with Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson according to Nicolas St-Pierre.

Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek
Zack Smith - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson
Random combinations of Foligno, Klinkhammer, Condra, O'Brien, Neil and Konopka.

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar
Chris Phillips - Matt Gilroy

Craig Anderson (starter)
Ben Bishop

More after the jump.

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As you are likely aware, Craig Anderson will return tonight. In his absence, the Senators went 5-5-2 but that was certainly not because of goaltending. Taking out the one-game played by Alex Auld, Ottawa went 5-4-2 with Robin Lehner and Ben Bishop, allowing a total of 23 goals in the 11 games. Only four times did Ottawa allow more than two goals in a game, including a 4-2 loss to Florida, 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, 4-3 shootout loss to Buffalo and a 3-1 loss to Toronto. In the six games lost with Lehner and Bishop, the Senators scored a grand total of nine goals and only once scored more than two goals.

With Anderson back, it is possible that the club feels a bit more comfortable taking offensive risks out there and starts scoring more goals. Another explanation could be that the Senators will simply turn it around offensively regardless of who is in net because they have been scoring a lot all season. The lack of scoring in recent games was definitely not due to the lack of chances created.

Still, it helps to not have a rookie playing in these crucial games, no matter how well the rookie has played. A win tonight would be a great way for Anderson to return.

More after the jump.

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While still heavy favourites to make the playoffs, the Ottawa Senators might be starting to feel a little bit of pressure with the Buffalo Sabres (and the Washington Capitals) four points behind Ottawa. Washington has a game in hand while Buffalo does not. It is also worth mentioning that Ottawa owns the tiebreaker over Buffalo, so it is essentially a five point lead over Buffalo with eight games to go.

Keeping in mind that Buffalo's final eight games include matches against Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia and Boston, and one becomes a lot more secure in the Senators chances. Ottawa has games against the Canadiens, Islanders and Hurricanes and really three wins should be enough to put them into the postseason even if they lose every other game. A 3-5-0 finish from Ottawa would leave the Sabres needing to go 5-2-1. Ottawa will likely do better and Buffalo will likely do worse.

Winning tomorrow's game in Montréal would go a long way towards easing some of the doubts creeping into the minds of the club's fans. It is also worth mentioning that for all the struggles against the Habs this year, Ottawa has taken five out of a possible six points in the last three games against Montréal.

More after the jump.

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As the venerable Mark Parisi pointed out, when Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza are not scoring, the first thing Paul MacLean tends to try is to load up on Spezza with Daniel Alfredsson and Milan Michalek. Well last night, Karlsson didn't score and Spezza wasn't playing. No one else on the Senators scored either and Ottawa lost despite allowing only a single goal.

Luckily for Ottawa, they have two superstars in Karlsson and Spezza that have been able to carry the offence for most of the games this season. In the few games that they have not been able to, Ottawa doesn't have the offensive talent to win. After last night, Ottawa has now won only one of the fourteen games in which both Karlsson and Spezza fail to register a point, sporting a 1-10-3 record.

Alfredsson hasn't scored a goal for 11 straight games and has only three assists in that span. Kyle Turris has just four goals and three assists for seven points in 25 games since late January. Nick Foligno has a goal and two assists in the last 10 games. Zack Smith has four points in his last 32 games. Chris Neil has a goal and an assist in the last 10 games. Sergei Gonchar has a goal and no assists in 12 games. Erik Condra has a goal and two assists in 31 games.

With Erik Karlsson reduced to just "alright" with four goals and two assists for six points in nine games in March, Ottawa needs someone to step up. Right now, they might not have the players to do it. If Ottawa is going to put up a fight in the first round, I suspect they will have to be largely carried by Karlsson and Spezza like they have been all season.

More after the jump.

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The Ottawa Senators will look to get back to winning ways when they host the New Jersey Devils tonight. Having gone 3-0-2, the Senators dropped a 3-1 decision to Toronto on Saturday. Tonight's game will conclude a three-game homestand after which five of the remaining eight games are on the road.

Ben Bishop will start again while Zenon Konopka will return in the place of Bobby Butler. Jason Spezza will be playing in his 600th career game. Here are my projections for the lines:

More after the jump.

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The Ottawa Senators return to action tonight when they host the New Jersey Devils. Ottawa sits three points behind New Jersey in the fight to finish sixth and earn the right to likely play the Florida Panthers. After tonight, the Senators and Devils will play one more time on the final day of the season in New Jersey.

A win tonight and the gap is down to one point (would also bring them within a point of Boston). A regulation loss and the Senators are five points behind New Jersey with eight games to go and stay three points behind Boston. Needless to say, tonight is a big game on both fronts.

Tonight's game is the fourth last home game of the season. The Senators host the Penguins on Saturday, the Hurricanes on 3 April and the Bruins on 5 April.

Links after the jump.

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Bruce Garrioch tracked down Bobby Orr and the Bruins legend is a big fan of Erik Karlsson. It was actually quite an interesting read and Orr lists Karlsson's skating ability as his greatest asset. He adds that Paul MacLean's decision to "take off the leash" from Karlsson has been pivotal in his success this season.

Orr feels that when you are as creative as Karlsson and rush up the ice, sometimes you will get caught, just like Orr himself got caught. Karlsson doesn't always do the "safe" play of shooting the puck off the glass, instead he makes things happen. Orr talks at length about this, saying:

He'll get caught. I got caught. The players understand how he plays. They accept it. He's fast enough to get back a lot of times. You have kids coming along where (the coach says) shoot the puck up the glass and shoot it in. The coach is letting (Karlsson) do it and since they've allowed him to do it, this kid has been unbelievable. But, let him do it. That's how he is most effective. Is he gonna make mistakes? Yup. Is he gonna get caught? Yup. But the pluses are going to outweigh the minuses.

It really was great to see the defenceman generally regarded as the greatest of all time go on and on about Karlsson's skating, his positioning, his use of the stick, his shooting. The best defence is to get the puck, not necessarily muscle players off the puck, and no defenceman in the NHL is better at taking the puck away than Karlsson.

More after the jump.

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It's Friday, Friday! Got to watch Sens on Friday!

C'est très simple. Beat les Canadiens tonight and the Senators will go to sleep in first place all by themselves. (Edit: Mark here. Think about that. Now pump up with me. [Edit again: Peter here. Pump up with me, instead.]) They are playing the worst team in the eastern conference, but it hasn't been easy for Ottawa, losing three of the four games so far to Montréal.

Ben Bishop will start again while Alex Auld is now up to solving the sudoku puzzles on "medium". Bobby Butler will come back into the lineup in the place of Kaspars Daugavins. Here are the lines from Nicolas St-Pierre.

More after the jump.

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As you might have been aware, earlier this week Hockey's Future released their rankings for the top Ottawa Senators prospects. Mika Zibanejad is ranked as Ottawa's top prospect with a grade of 8.0C, where an 8 is the player's best-case potential defined as:

First-Line Forward/ No. 2 Defenseman / No. 1 Goaltender - players with definite skill that might be just a cut below elite status, but still possessing All-Star potential.

The letter after the number determines how much a player can drop from that potential. In the case of a C, it means Zibanejad may reach his potential or may drop one or two spots to second or third line forward. Robin Lehner is Ottawa's second ranked prospect at 7.5C. Jakob Silfverberg and Stefan Noesen are tied for third at 7.0C (second-line potential). Mark Stone rounds out at the top five with a 6.5C rating.

They list Ottawa's prospect strengths to include forward depth, but note the lack of elite scoring forwards. I am not sure how puck moving defenceman are considered a strength. Perhaps they haven't updated the strengths since the David Rundblad trade.

More after the jump.

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When I have nothing else to write, I will likely just resort to writing about the night's games and what the Senators should hope for. Without further delay here it is:

Boston Bruins at Florida Panthers
Ottawa sits a point behind the Bruins for first place in the division. The Panthers sit only four points behind the Bruins themselves. Even if Ottawa can't catch Boston, maybe Florida can take the #2 seed and setup a matchup with #7 Ottawa?
Best case: Florida in regulation.

Colorado Avalanche at New Jersey Devils
Easy one to pick here, Ottawa is three points behind New Jersey for the #6 seed.
Best case: Colorado in regulation.

Philadelphia Flyers at New York Islanders
This one likely doesn't matter, as the Flyers are five points ahead with two games in hand. But couldn't hurt if the Islanders win.
Best case: New York in regulation.

More after the jump.

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The Ottawa Senators will finally return to action when they visit the Montréal Canadiens at the Bell Centre tonight. Le woo de la hoo! Results have gone Ottawa's way recently and a win tonight would draw them level on points with the Boston Bruins for first place in the Northeast division.

There are no changes to the lineup. Zenon Konopka, Matt Carkner and Bobby Butler are the healthy scratches again tonight. Ben Bishop will start while Alex Auld solves sudoku puzzles on the bench.

More after the jump.

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After Boston was humiliated 6-1 in Tampa Bay and New Jersey was shutout 3-0 in Philadelphia, the Ottawa Senators playoff situation has got even better. Currently, the Senators sit two points behind Boston with the Bruins having a game in hand. The two clubs meet in Ottawa on 5 April in the penultimate game of the season. Before that the Senators have 10 games while the Bruins play 11 more times.

Should the Senators go 6-4-0 before the meeting with the Bruins, and the Bruins go 5-5-1, Ottawa will enter the game against Boston a point behind the Bruins having played the same number of games. That would give the Sens chance to take the division lead with a regulation win. Looking at the Senators schedule in the next 10 games we see that Ottawa plays 7 non-playoff teams (Montréal three times as well as Toronto, Winnipeg, the New York Islanders and Carolina. The other three games are against Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

The Bruins on the other hand play 6 of their 11 games against teams currently in a playoff position including Florida, Philadelphia, San Jose, Washington, the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh. The other five games are against Toronto, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders. Add to that the fact that the Bruins have a three-game road trip through California next week, and Ottawa's chances look even better. SportsClubStats gives them an 11% chance which though while still very low, is almost four times as high as the 3% a couple weeks ago.

In terms of catching the New Jersey Devils, the Senators are four points back with an equal number of games played. Ottawa plays New Jersey two more times, so the Senators control their own destiny in this case, as they would beat New Jersey in a tiebreaker.

Links after the jump. Just like last year, in honour of Pi Day, there will be a total of 3 sections and 14 links.

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