Game ONE!: Ottawa Senators @ New York Rangers
Game One: Ottawa Senators @ New York Rangers
Madison Square Garden, 7:00 p.m. EST
Radio: Team 1200 TV: CBC
Enemy: Blueshirt Banter
It's finally here! After what was a trying off-season for everyone in Senators land, the regular season has finally arrived, and I couldn't be more excited. In fact, with all the excitement we have, a few Sens blogs--notably ourselves here at Silver Seven plus everyone from Sens Army Blog, Scarlett Ice, and The 6th Sens (and anyone else who decides on it)--will be taking part in a Live Blog, which you can join if you look after the fold.
For the game, look for Ottawa's starting lineup to look like this:
The Rangers just played last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, so it's unclear what kind of state the team will be in tonight. Unsure if Henrik Lundqvist will be starting back-to-back, but I have a feeling he will.
Some of the most interesting stuff of the first game of the year will be special teams. I think the Sens' top powerplay might be Filip Kuba and Erik Karlsson on the point, with the second PP points being manned by Ryan Shannon and Chris Campoli. Tough to say with the forwards, but I think there's a good chance anyone from the top six, plus Chris Neil, Nick Foligno, and Jonathan Cheechoo, will likely have a good shot at getting some time. On the penalty kill, you've got to expect Kuba to play with Matt Carkner on the second unit, while Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov stick together as the top shutdown pair. Forwards will probably include Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, Jarkko Ruutu, and Milan Michalek.
All in all, it's going to be awesome. Try and be here for the live blog discussion, it should be a lot of fun. Puck drop is 7 p.m., but the live blog starts at 6 p.m.
(Continue reading to join in with the live blog... )