The Ottawa Senators announced today that they have signed Peter Regin to a one-year, one-way deal worth $800,000, giving Sens fans an answer to the question that has plagued them since Regin went down with a shoulder injury early in the season: does he still have a spot on this team?

Well, despite only playing 65 games in the past two season (10 in 2011-12, 55 in 2010-11), Regin's found himself with another one-way contract.

Whether Regin would land himself another contract was a point of contention among fans for a variety of reasons. Despite showing great promise by putting up 13 goals and 29 points in his first full year in the NHL back in 2009-10, Regin's had a string of bad luck ever since, one that coincidentally coincides with him changing his jersey number to 13. He scored only 3 goals in the disastrous 2010-11 campaign, and last season his season was cut down to just ten games after he required shoulder surgery for the same shoulder he'd injured the previous season. Despite two injuries on the same shoulder, they were reportedly unrelated and Tim Murray has stated that the team expects Regin to have 100% recovery.

It's not hard to imagine that Paul MacLean liked what he saw of Regin in his brief glimpses this year and put in a good word to Bryan Murray to keep Regin in the fold. Regin is a player that has many of the elements Paul MacLean likes in his forwards: skilled set of hands, plays all 200 feet of the rink, and is excellent at puck-possession style of hockey. He's not without his question marks -- his ability to stay healthy is the biggest one, and one also wonders how long it'll take him to get back to speed after missing so many games -- but those concerns are addressed by Regin's upside and the term and price of the deal. At one-year and $800,000, it's a sensible move by Bryan Murray to give Regin one last shot at staying healthy and proving his worth. And let's face it -- after what he's gone through the past two seasons, he'll have plenty of motivation.

Bruce Garrioch and Ian Mendes reported earlier this morning that there's a good chance that Mark Stone makes his NHL debut tonight, and it's since been confirmed by Darren Dreger. That the 19 year-old Stone will step into the lineup tonight is pretty remarkable for a kid who was drafted in the 6th round two years ago. After all, there were only 32 kids picked later than Stone in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and none of them have seen any NHL playing time. In fact, only a single player (Dalton Prout) drafted after the 2nd round in the 2010 Draft have seen NHL action, and he only saw 5 games. Stone, meanwhile, will see his first slice of NHL action in Game 5 of a tied first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No pressure, kid.

Stone's spot on the team opened up due to the injuries to Daniel Alfredsson and Jesse Winchester, which has resulted in some significant line shuffling. Stone practiced yesterday on the second line, but today saw himself on the fourth line with Zenon Konopka and Jim O'Brien, and his 6'3", 196lb frame should provide more than enough size to be an effective checking line player. Additionally, Ian Mendes reports that MacLean is hinting that Stone can expect powerplay time as well, which is no surprise given the Senators' struggles in that department and given his undeniable scoring touch -- in the 2010/11 season, Stone was third in the WHL with 106 points (37G, 69A), while this season he finished second with a staggering 123 points (41 G, 82A) in just 66 games.

If Stone draws into the line-up tonight, he'll become just the fifth teenager in Ottawa Senators history to play in an NHL playoff game. Of course, he's no stranger to big games, having posted a team-leading 7 goals and 10 points in the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships for Team Canada. I was in Calgary to watch a couple of Stone's games at the WJHC, and came away very impressed with his play. Stone is great positionally, particularly good at sneaking behind players and firing a quick shot in the slot. His shot is hard and very accurate. He has good patience with the puck, and has underrated vision and passing. He uses his big body to his advantage and is hard to move in front of the net (where he often is), and protects puck along the boards well. Although much was made about his subpar skating when he was drafted, he's improved it significantly.

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Everything is escalated for the playoffs. The atmosphere, the speed, the hits: it's all turned up to 11 in the playoffs. The New York Rangers clearly got the memo, as they came out of the gate flying and hitting everything in sight. The Senators, by comparison, didn't look to have the same type of intensity early. This showed on the scoreboard in the first period, as Ryan Callahan got the Rangers on the board about ten minutes in after Craig Anderson gave up a big rebound that Callahan was able to tuck in the net.

The second period saw the Senators come out with more jump, hemming the Rangers into their own zone and forcing them to ice the puck with considerable frequency. Unfortunately, after nearly 15 minutes of controlling the play, the Senators failed to capitalize on their opportunities (or their powerplays), and Marian Gaborik was able to walk in front of Craig Anderson and slip the puck in five-hole for a 2-0 Rangers lead. A few minutes later, Brian Boyle rifled one above Anderon's shoulder to give the Rangers a 3 goal lead.

Nick Foligno turned the puck over behind Anderson's net early in the third period, leading to a Brad Richards goal that put the game out of reach. The Senators collapsed and allowed the Rangers to control the tempo for the majority of the period, only turning it on late as Daniel Alfredsson deflected a Jason Spezza pass above Henrik Lundqvist to help Ottawa erase the goose-egg, and Erik Condra fired home a nifty Nick Foligno pass to bring the game to within two. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the Sens couldn't complete the comeback.

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The Ottawa Senators have been firing on all cylinders as of late, reeling off 4 straight wins in order to secure their playoff spot. Now that the team has secured their playoff spot, you'd hope they wouldn't take their foot off the gas. Unfortunately, that appears to be what happened, as the Senators had an uninspired 60 minutes and fell 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

After a scoreless first period, Brandon Sutter got the Canes on the board early in the second frame with a high shot that somehow handcuffed Craig Anderson and trickled in. Ottawa looked to have tied it up later that period after a rebound banked in off Chris Neil, but upon video review the puck was deemed to have been batted in by Neil, keeping it a 1-0 game. Late in the second, the Canes got a powerplay when Nick Foligno executed a clean open-ice hit that was called a kneeing penalty. As luck would have it, this 5-on-4 resulted in a powerplay goal from a Tuomo Rutuu deflection, giving the Canes a two-goal lead over the Senators.

This phenomenon of clean open-ice hits turning into penalties continued in the third period, as Chris Neil received one for knocking Eric Staal to the ice, and then upon leaving the penalty box, received another for knocking Tuomo Ruutu down. The Senators managed 16 shots in the third period, but they didn't manage to sneak one by Cam Ward until only 13 seconds remained in the game. Of course, by that point it was too late, and the Senators were unable to even up the score.

The Senators out-shot the Hurricanes 39-31, out-hit them 29-20, and out-lost them 1-2. With tonight's loss and the New Jersey Devils' win, the Senators can no longer finish 6th in the Eastern Conference; 7th and 8th are the only options.

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With the Ottawa Senators' 5-1 win over the New York Islanders, the Sens have clinched a spot in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. No, this is not an April Fools Day prank.

As we inch closer to the playoffs, every game seems dramatically more important. For the Senators, they needed a win against the Flyers to improve their chances of just making the playoffs. For the Flyers, who are pretty much guaranteed to play Pittsburgh in the first round, they needed a win to improve their chances of getting home ice advantage. Needless to say, Ottawa had a bit more motivation heading into this one.

The Senators got on the board first, when Daniel Alfredsson told Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky that he was going to go behind the net with the puck. It was a lie. Alfredsson instead passed the puck back to Spezza who snuck it in past Bobrovsky, who was still waiting at the other post because he thought Alfredsson was an honest man. He's not.

Alfredsson wasn't content to just get assists, so a few minutes later, he received a pass from Erik Karlsson and one-timed the puck into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Ottawa continued to pour it on in the first period, as Rob Klinkhammer stymied a Flyers clearing attempt, fed the puck into the corner, and an easy Chris Neil shot somehow went through Bobrovsky.

Unfortunately, the Sens seemed to take this lead for granted and came out complacent in the second period. The Flyers scored early in the second, when Brayden Schenn fired a shot that deflected off Wayne Simmonds' face and snuck past Craig Anderson. Late in the period, the Flyers brought it to within one when Sean Couturier froze Karlsson with a shot fake, blew past him and slipped it through Anderson. The Senators then blew a big powerplay opportunity, and the Flyers followed it up with a game tying goal from Braydon Coburn.

After two three-goal periods, the third frame was a pretty boring one, as each side contractually agreed to not create any scoring chances so that they could both guarantee themselves a point. Between the two teams, there were only 9 shots in the third period.

The overtime period, on the other hand, was a wild affair, with end to end chances and a number of stunning Craig Anderson saves before Filip Kuba took a penalty with just 50 seconds left to give the Flyers a 4-on-3 advantage. The Senators managed to stay alive through the penalty kill, and pushed the game to the shoot out. Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza both scored, while Craig Anderson stopped 2 of 3 Flyers shooters to give the Sens the extra point.

The 2 points give Ottawa 90 on the year, which puts them 4 points up on the Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference playoff race. All three teams have just four games remaining on the season.

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The Senators came into tonight's game just two points out of a tie for first place in the Northeast Division, but that was one point more than they could muster as they fell 3-2 in a shoot out to the Montreal Canadiens.

The Habs got on the board first as Erik Cole streaked in and scored on his own rebound before high-fiving the referee. The Senators answered back just 26 seconds later, as Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza had a catch before Colin Greening slapped the puck past Carey Price to make it a 1-1 game. The Senators would outshoot the Habs 15-9 in the period, and Petteri Nokelainen would attempt to fight Jared Cowen.

The second period opened with a parade to the penalty box, with four minor penalties taken in the first four minutes. Ottawa had a brief period of 4-on-3 time, but were unable to capitalize on the opportunity.

Just 24 seconds into the third period, David Desharnais decided he believes in tipping (note: this link contains cursing), and put a PK Subban point shot past Ben Bishop. Thankfully, Erik Karlsson decided he too could show a little offense, and made a nice play to create space for himself and fire off a wrister that beat Price.

The game went to overtime, but overtime didn't solve anything. Unfortunately, the shootout didn't benefit the Senators, as all three Senators shooters seemed to phone it in, not getting any goals. David Desharnais scored for the Habs, giving them the shootout victory.

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After dropping two straight games, the Senators were facing considerable pressure to complete a season sweep of a Lightning team desperately trying to climb their way into the eighth playoff spot.

The Senators came out of the gate strong, outshooting the Lightning 14-8 in the first frame. The Sens opened the scoring about halfway through the first when Sergei Gonchar was able to sneak in from the point completely undetected and put in an easy Colin Greening feed. Later in the period, Greening made it a 2-0 game off a sneaky pass from Milan Michalek. Less than a minute later, Kyle Turris rifled a shot that ricocheted off the defender's shinpad and fooled Dwayne Roloson, giving the Senators a huge 3-0 lead.

However, just like Sunday night's game against the Florida Panthers, the Senators stumbled into the second period and allowed the opposition to score a couple of quick goals (including one by former Senator Ryan Shannon), making it a 3-2 game. Unlike that loss to the Panthers, though, the Senators were able to recover, thanks to an Erik Karlsson powerplay goal that made it a 4-2 game.

Early in the third period, Steven Stamkos brought the Lightning to within one with a gorgeous top-shelf goal, but it wasn't enough for the Bolts. Milan Michalek finished off the Lightning with one of the most bizarre natural hat-tricks ever recorded, scoring a beautiful powerplay goal on a perfect snipe shot before firing home two empty-netters in the last two minutes of the game.

Sens Hero: Colin Greening
Greening assisted on the game's opening goal by making a nice feed to Sergei Gonchar, got his own goal later in the period, and then dropped the gloves with Keith Aulie, giving him the fabled Gordie Howe hat-trick. I'm conflicted as to whether to link to this or to this, so I'll just go with both.

Sens Hero: Milan Michalek
Michalek finished the night +4 with four points thanks to an assist and his natural Mario Lemieux hat-trick (an even strength goal, a power play goal, and a shorthanded goal). Yes, two of those goals were empty netters so it probably shouldn't count, but it does. Milan now sits at 32 goals -- his first 30 goal season in the NHL.

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Playing against the Boston Bruins usually means three things: a tremendous Tim Thomas performance, a hard-hitting match-up, and a Senators loss.

One of those things didn't happen tonight, and it made for one of the most impressive Senators wins of the year.

The Senators came out of the gate strong tonight, outshooting the Bruins 13-7 in the opening frame. Late in the first, Erik Karlsson rifled home a powerplay goal thanks to a terrific Daniel Alfredsson screen. Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek assisted. It would stand as the game's only goal, and the game-winner.

Despite all of the predictions of fights to be had, no scraps actually came to fruition -- the closest being a brief moment where Shaun Thornton dropped his gloves but didn't actually fight. That's not to say that the game wasn't physical, though, because it was. Both teams traded hits, with the official tally favouring the Bruins quite heavily (28-11).

Ottawa controlled the play again in the second period, but the third period saw the Bruins take charge. They outshot the Sens 17-7 and had a number of glorious chances thanks to three straight Ottawa penalties, including one with just over two minutes left. Nevertheless, the Senators survived thanks to hard work, hustle, and a standout game from Robin Lehner.

Sens Hero: Robin Lehner
Lehner earned his first NHL shut out with a terrific performance against the Bruins, making a number of key stops against one of the best teams in the NHL. It's going to be tremendous to watch him and newly acquired Ben Bishop compete in the future -- Lehner made 32 stops on 32 shots tonight, while Bishop stopped 41 of 42 for the Binghamton Senators tonight.

Sens Killer: Tim Thomas
Thomas was his usual self again tonight, stopping several breakaways and doing everything in his power to give the Bruins a win that they probably didn't deserve on this occasion. The only shot that beat him was one that he clearly couldn't see thanks to a Daniel Alfredsson screen, but otherwise, he was flawless.

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The Senators were looking to tie together a pair of wins for the first time in far too long, but let two separate leads slip away and lost the game 4-3 in overtime.

Immediately before the game, the Senators recognized Chris Phillips for playing 1000 games in the NHL with a nice little ceremony. Phillips, always a class act, thanked the organization and the city, and received a warm ovation from the appreciative crowd.

From the very first puck drop, the Senators showed a new found confidence thanks to Thursday's win against Nashville. They were constantly in the attacking zone and really utilized their speed created countless chances. It worked well, giving the Senators a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the game as Daniel Alfredsson fired off a sharp shot past Nikolai Khabibulin from a sneaky Erik Karlsson feed.

The Oilers struck back in the second period, though, as the struggling Magnus Paajarvi managed to tie the game up at one. The Senators and Oilers then traded goals late in the second period, with Milan Michalek scoring on a breakaway while Ben Eager tied it up after the refs somehow missed an interference play that prevented Jared Cowen from covering Eager.

The Oilers took their first lead of the game early in the third period when Shawn Horcoff was left wide open in front of the net for an easy goal, while Erik Karlsson evened it up midway through the period, taking this one to overtime.

Overtime was, well, brief. Just 17 seconds in, Taylor Hall -- who the Senators had shut down all afternoon -- scored the game and robbed the Senators of the extra point. Shots were 42-40 in favour of the Senators.

Sens Killer: Nikolai Khabibulin
Normally, letting in three goals hardly qualifies as a Sens Killer. However, Khabibulin faced 42 shots on the night, and turned away countless incredible scoring chances for the Senators. He was rock solid on an afternoon when the Oilers needed him to be, and the Senators suffered because of it.

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The Senators faced a familiar face in net tonight as they looked for a win after six straight losses, but Brian Elliott and the St. Louis Blues closed the door on the Sens, winning Chris Phillips' 999th game by a 3-1 score.

Ottawa appeared to come out of the gate strong, getting two good chances within the opening minute. Unfortunately, the wheels started falling off shortly afterward, with the Blues getting two quick goals in the game's first five minutes. The first was a Roman Polak point shot that was tipped in by Chris Porter less than two minutes in, while the second came as David Perron was allowed to walk right in front of Craig Anderson and bury it. After letting in two goals on four shots, Anderson was pulled.

After getting down by two, the Senators started to improve. Daniel Alfredsson got the team on the board with a powerplay goal less than a minute into the second period, bringing the Senators within one. The team started to control the play a bit, and a comeback seemed possible. Unfortunately, the Blues played terrific defense -- the team is simply relentless within their own zone -- and managed to capitalize on an Erik Karlsson giveaway as David Perron scored his second of the game to give his team another two-goal lead.

Unforunately, that 3-1 score would remain for the rest of the game. Ottawa had their chances, but simply couldn't bury them. They finished ahead in the shots department 29-18, something that they've been surprisingly good at as of late (during this losing streak, they've outshot their opponents in 5 of 7 games).

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The Ottawa Senators have been in the midst of a mild slump lately, losing their last two games and 3 of their last 5. It would have been a nice boost for the team to get a win before the All-Star Break, but another game of uninspired hockey saw the Senators walk out with a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Senators actually outshot their opponents this game -- something they have not been doing lately -- but their game seemed to lack intensity and the chances they generated never really seemed that dangerous. They allowed the Phoenix Coyotes to take a 2-0 lead on goals from Gilbert Brule and Shane Doan before Daniel Alfredsson finally got the Senators on the board 37 minutes into the game. Only down 2-1 going into the third, it seemed like the late-surging Senators might actually be able to pull this one out.

Unfortunately, the Senators couldn't seem to find the win tonight. The Coyotes scored 1:30 into the period to give themselves a 3-1 lead, and though Chris Neil netted his ninth of the season just 14 seconds later, the Senators never could bring the game back to a tie. It appeared they had tied it up late in the third when Daniel Alfredsson put the puck in the back of the net off a rebound, but the goal was disallowed as referee Tim Peel felt Nick Foligno had interfered with goalie Mike Smith. The Senators went on the penalty kill, and never managed to find that tying marker, falling 3-2 to the 'Yotes. The Sens will have plenty to think about over the All-Star Break, and hopefully they come back with fresh legs and the hustle that's been missing the past few games.

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Ian Mendes is reporting that Andre Petersson will play his first NHL game today against the Anaheim Ducks, and all things considered, it's a pretty remarkable feat. At this time last year, some were wondering if his injuries would allow him to play at all this season, let alone in the NHL.

For those who haven't followed the saga of Petersson, he was drafted in the 4th round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, the same draft where fellow Swede Erik Karlsson was selected 15th overall and current fan favourite Zack Smith was picked in the third round. Petersson played in the 2009 and 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships (winning Silver and Bronze, respectively), but it was the 2010 tourney was his coming out party. Petersson finished the 2010 tourney tied with Jordan Eberle as the leader in goals with 8 goals in just 6 games, and was sixth in points with 11. That year was his first full SEL season, and he scored 10 goals and 15 points in 37 games -- very respectable numbers in one of the world's top leagues.

Things weren't so rosy the next year, as Petersson had to shut down his season due to a recurring back injury. The pain bothered him for a year and a half before he finally decided to go to Ottawa for treatment, and was rewarded with a symptom free back just a few months later. Oh, he was also rewarded with a three-year contract with the Senators. He stuck around Ottawa and received rave reviews for his skill from Binghamton Senators coach Kurt Kleinendorst:

"We’ve said all along that he may be our most skilled player."

"Honestly, I don’t know that you could watch him play and look for skills and say that he’s got a weakness at anything."

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Getting off on the wrong foot is starting to become quite the habit for the Senators, who turned in a pitiful effort during the first period. The Senators were completely outshot (16-7), outskated and outplayed by a San Jose Sharks team that looked like it belonged in a different league.The Sharks needed just more than three minutes before Brad Winchester gave his team a 1-0 lead.

Ottawa somehow managed to escape the first period with a 1-1 tie thanks to the heroics of Craig Anderson (how many times have we said that in the last few weeks?) and a goal from Kyle Turris. Kyle Turris struck again early in the third when he led a 3 on 2 rush up ice and snuck a nice pass back to Erik Karlsson who buried it. The Sens, despite being the far worse team up to this point, had a 2-1 lead. Funny how that works.

There was a bit of a scary moment late in the second period when the Sharks' Jamie McGinn delivered a knee-on-knee to Jason Spezza, but Spezza was fortunate enough to walk away unscathed. The Senators did better than leave unscathed -- on the ensuing powerplay, Colin Greening found enough space to fire a goal short-side and making it a 3-1 game. Greening struck again in the third period with a surprisingly easy goal that went in from a long-range wrist shot with no traffic in front, giving the Senators a very comfortable 4-1 lead. That would remain the final score, and the final shot count was 37-21 in favour of the Sharks. And with a shot count like that, it can only mean one thing...

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Mark Borowiecki (pronounced "Boar-vee-eff-ski"), who you might remember from such films as Borocop and Borocop 2: The Land Before Borocop, will play his first NHL game tonight when he steps into the lineup against the San Jose Sharks.

Borowiecki was a fifth round pick from Ottawa's stellar 2008 NHL Entry Draft, which has now had 2 players become regular NHLers (Erik Karlsson and Zack Smith), one make a brief NHL appearance (Patrick Wiercioch), and another join Borowiecki and the Senators on this roadtrip and is sure to play a game or two (Andre Petersson).

We profiled Borowiecki more extensively in Brian Sullivan's write-up from May 2010, and Borwiecki's come a long way since then. The 22-year old Kanata native completed three years with Clarkson University, serving as team captain in his final year, and was yet another contributor to Binghamton's 2011 Calder Cup winning team. He was voted by his peers as the hardest working player at this year's development camp, and was praised for his competitiveness and work ethic.

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The Senators came into this game looking as flat as they did in their awful game against Winnipeg last night, and it looked like things could be pretty grim for the Sens. Craig Anderson letting in a soft goal just 7 minutes into the game didn't help matters, and when the Senators went down 2-0 late in the first while being badly outplayed, it looked like it might be a long one. However, Daniel Alfredsson managed to tap in a goal with just seven second remaining in the first period, keeping the Senators in the game and getting the first of three unanswered goals for the Senators.

The second period was again dominated by the Leafs: by the end of the first two periods, the Leafs had outshot the Senators 31-15. Craig Anderson was putting up yet another outstanding performance, standing on his head to keep the Senators in this one. Just as things were looking their worst for the Senators, Dion Phaneuf decided he was going to instigate a fight with Nick Foligno. The decision went to Foligno, and suddenly the Senators had new life. A scramble in front of the Leaf net saw the puck deflect off Kaspars Daugavins' skate, then Jason Spezza's stick, and then find its way into the net. Tie game. The Senators ended up controlling the bulk of the play in the third period, with Kyle Turris making it 3-2 with what would go on to be the game winner.

Let's be honest -- the Senators did not deserve to walk away with the win, and it was a combination of luck and Craig Anderson that got them out with 2 points, while the Leafs left without any. The Senators were out-shot 39-21 and out-chanced 28-11 by the Leafs. They can't expect to continue to win if they play like they did tonight, but these are two more big points from the Battle of Ontario that the Senators are more than happy to take.

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Alex Auld has made a career out of being a solid back-up goalie. The last time Alex Auld wore a Senators uniform, he put up 16 wins with a .911 SV% and a GAA of 2.47. Last season with the Montreal Canadiens, he had a .914 SV% and a 2.64 GAA.

This year, Auld has started just 6 games, has only 1 win, and has a career-worst .875 SV% and 3.73 GAA. He's bound to start playing like his old self again -- let's just hope it happens soon.

A good start might be, well, giving him a few more starts. Craig Anderson leads the league in shots against, is second in the league in time on ice and second in starts among goalies. Paul MacLean has to ensure that he doesn't wear out his starter before the playoffs, as the Sens will definitely need Andy in top form should they extend their season into April.

Many people have complained about how the Senators have had to win games despite poor goaltending. Well, here was a night where they certainly won because of the man in net. The team tightened up defensively against the top team in the NHL and Craig Anderson put up a goose egg in net, giving the Senators their first shut out of the 2011-2012 season despite being outshot 34 - 24.

The first period was where Anderson was needed most, as the Rangers fired 13 shots on the Ottawa net, with Anderson making some big saves. Things looked like they were going to get worse for the Senators after Jason Spezza was the victim of a knee-on-knee from Ruslan Fedotenko, but Spezza was able to stay in the game. The game remained tied through the first period, but midway through the second Jason Spezza made a nice move to find some space and then fired a rocket to beat Henrik Lundqvist.

The Senators entered the third period with a 1-0 lead, meaning it was all but over for the Rangers. How could they compete with the NHL's best third period scoring team? They couldn't. The Senators scored two more goals before the end of the game, the first coming from Milan Michalek while the second was another Jason Spezza goal, this time on the powerplay.

Sens Hero: Craig Anderson
Anderson has played a lot of games this season, but he finally earned his first shutout of the season with a tremendous performance. Andy was solid as a rock out there, making big save after big save on the 34 shots that he faced.

Sens Hero: Jason Spezza
Spezza's performance on the scoresheet was not totally indicative of his play tonight. Though he had a solid game, his line with Greening and Michalek was hemmed into the defensive zone through most of the night, and was heavily outshot by the opposition. Still, to win games you need players to produce, and that's exactly what the top line for Ottawa did. In a three goal game, it's hard to not be the hero when you win 63% of your draws and put up two goals like Spezza did.

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If you've noticed that a lot of Ottawa Senators games have been running long this season, there's a good reason for that: the Senators currently lead the league in overtime appearances with 13. In that time, they've actually compiled a very respectable overtime/shootout record, with 8 wins and 5 losses in extra time (including a 4-2 record in the shoot out).

Fans should be happy that the Senators are pushing games to OT at all, given that they are often trailing in the game before pushing it to extra time: as of January 5th, the Senators had led after the first period just 9 times this season. They had trailed after the first period 18 times. Fans should probably also be content with the Senators' rather impressive record in extra time -- they're third in OT wins, just after New Jersey and Colorado who have ridiculous 10-2 and 10-1 records, respectively.

Yet every time the Senators allow a game to go into overtime, they're giving up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

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The Senators continued their season theme of being a dangerous third period team tonight, as they entered the third period trailing the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 only to escape with a 6-4 win.

The first period opened with a Zenon Konopka-Zac Rinaldo tilt just fifteen seconds into the game. Within a minute of the fight, the Senators took a 1-0 lead after Kyle Turris drew two defenders to him and slipped a nifty pass to Daniel Alfredsson, who buried it. Former Senator Andrej Mezsaros responded less than two minutes later with a shot from the point to tie the game up 1-1.

Then, things got a little weird. After a scrum in front of the Philadelphia net, the linesman was about to drop the puck when at the last second, the play became under review. After a lengthy break, the War Room concluded that the puck had crossed the line, giving Chris Neil his 6th of the season and making the game 2-1 for Ottawa. Later in the period, Philadelphia scored two quick goals (from Marc-Andre Bourdon and Sean Couturier) in less than 30 seconds to give Philly a 3-2 lead, which they'd extend to 4-2 on a powerplay goal from Matt Read late in the second period.

However, the Senators went back to the ol' Paul MacLean playbook, decided a third-period comeback was in order, and scored four unanswered goals in the third period to win the game 6-4. First, Colin Greening threw a puck toward a streaking Jason Spezza only to have it tipped in accidentally by Matt Carle. Next, Erik Karlsson flew up the ice on a 2-on-1 and slipped one through Bryzgalov's five-hole to tie up the game. With just over a minute left in regulation, Filip Kuba's blast from the point gave the Senators a 5-4 lead, which became a 6-4 win after Nick Foligno scored an empty-netter.

Sens Zero: Matt Carkner
Carkner gave the Flyers two powerplays tonight, and both of them were completely avoidable penalties: the first was Carkner trying to get an unwilling Wayne Simmonds to fight, while the second was an elbow after Carkner got his arms up too high on a hit. The Senators struggled to create momentum during the middle of the game due to the time spent in the penalty box.

Sens Hero: Erik Karlsson
Despite playing 24:20 in a game where Philadelphia scored 4 goals, Karlsson was never on the ice for a goal against. He had a goal and an assist, his goal coming from a wonderful rush up ice where he pulled the ol' "I'm going to pass it, gonna pass it, gonna pass it.... JUST KIDDING! GOAL!" with a nice five-hole shot. He finished +5 on the night.

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With the Senators plagued by injuries to their forward corps, Mike Hoffman has been given the opportunity to step into his first NHL game tonight. He'll suit up in #68 against the Carolina Hurricanes. Hoffman's route to the NHL has been a bit of an unorthodox one, but that makes it all the more impressive that he's playing in an NHL game at just 22 years old.

Hoffman's major junior career started in the OHL where he played six games for the Kitchener Rangers during the 2006-07 season. However, he was cut at the start of the 2007-08 season, so he jumped over to the QMJHL to play for the Gatineau Olympiques, only to get cut again. He played for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL for the rest of the season, and was not selected in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

In the 2008-09 season, he led his team to a QMJHL championship with 52 goals and 94 points in just 62 regular season games. He added 21 goals in 19 playoff games. He was traded to the Saint John Sea Dogs to start the 2009-10, scored 46 goals in 56 games, and won himself the QMJHL MVP trophy.

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Whenever Buffalo and Ottawa meet up, you can count on a good hockey game. The matchup between these two Northeast Division rivals has produced many close games and some of the most memorable moments in modern Senators history. Tonight saw a number of factors that led fans to believe it would be a good game -- the return of Sergei Gonchar and Filip Kuba, the first ever NHL matchup between the Brothers Foligno, and the Senators debut for Kyle Turris.

Instead of a classic, we got a dud. The 4-1 score is probably the most exciting thing about it.

Ottawa got on the board first after Zack Smith potted in the rebound from a Chris Neil (!!) breakaway midway through the first period. The play also gave Matt Carkner his first assist of the season. The Sabres tied it up in the second on a Jordan Leopold powerplay goal -- a goal that Craig Anderson probably wishes he could have back.

The Senators controlled the bulk of the play during the game (shot were 39-23 in favour of the Sens), and finally took the game over in the third period. It started as Kyle Turris earned his first point as a Sen after his hard wrister was too much for Miller to handle, giving Turris a rebound he slipped to Erik Condra for an easy goal. That was followed by a late powerplay goal from Erik Karlsson off a gorgeous Daniel Alfredsson feed in close, and finally an empty-net goal from Condra to close out the game at 4-1.

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After the Foligno/Crosby/Bryan Murray dust-up last month, people were probably waiting for the next time the teams met to see what type of a reaction there would be. Well, with Crosby out, that issue was brushed to the side and these two very depleted teams were able to focus on winning a hockey game.

How depleted? The Sens were without Milan Michalek, Sergei Gonchar, and Filip Kuba. The Penguins, on the other hand, were missing Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Zbynek Michalek, and Jordan Staal.

Needless to say, both teams were missing a lot of firepower, leading to a game that lacked some offensive flourish, both teams instead trying to grind out a win. During the first period, both teams were heavy on the grinding, but light on the winning, resulting in a scoreless frame. Seemed like fans would be in for an uneventful, low-scoring game.

It was anything but.

Three goals were scored in the first 2:05 of the second period, and a fourth was scored under 7 minutes in. The first goal, 25 seconds in, was a beautiful feed from Jason Spezza to Colin Greening on a 2-on-1. The Penguins responded just over a minute later with a nice snipe from Steve Sullivan, but then the Senators responded to that just 30 seconds later as Jason Spezza scored off a Daniel Alfredsson feed. A few minutes later, it was Alfie's turn to get a goal of his own, giving the Sens a 3-1 lead.

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Perhaps the only thing more depressing than a blowout loss is one where it looks like your team is going to win up until the last few minutes, and somehow escapes with no points. That was the story for the Ottawa Senators tonight, who held a 2-1 lead with under 6 minutes left in the game only to leave the game with a 3-2 loss.

The Senators got on the board first, as Jared Cowen sent a Stars defender flying before flipping the puck to a wide open Erik Condra, who buried the puck for his third of the season. The Stars replied a couple of minutes later with Steve Ott's powerplay goal.

After an ugly second period, the Senators regained the lead with ten minutes left in the game after Milan Michalek knocked the puck out of the air and fired a quick shot that beat Andrew Raycroft. The Senators looked like they might be able to hold onto the lead, but collapsed in the last six minutes, allowing goals from Radek Dvorak and Eric Nystrom. The Sens pressed hard for the last few minutes, getting a couple of great chances, but simply couldn't pull out the win.

Sens Killer: Andrew Raycroft
Raycroft made 33 saves on the night to keep his team in the game. No save was bigger than his last two: the first being a shot from the point through traffic, the second being a rebound shot from Daniel Alfredsson that Raycroft snapped up in his glove.

Sens Hero: Jared Cowen
Cowen was leaned on heavily by Coach Paul MacLean tonight, playing over 22 minutes in the game while Brian Lee and David Rundblad both clocked in with 11 minutes apiece. Cowen handled the icetime well, and ended the game tied with Milan Michalek for a team high +2 on the night. He racked up 5 hits, including one on Tomas Vincour that had him wincing as he left the ice). One of those hits was also instrumental in Erik Condra's goal, where Cowen got his first NHL assist.

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