The Senators are facing the Montreal Canadiens tonight in Montreal, and the news seems nothing but good.




First and foremost is the return tonight of Daniel Alfredsson to the line up. Alfie, who suffered a separated shoulder on December 23, and was expected to be off for 6 weeks, returns after a little more than 3 weeks. The sheer presence of the captain on the ice, the reputation he has and the talent and work ethics he always displays are bound to have a positive effect on the Sens. Alfie skated with Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno in the pre-game skate.

Mike Brodeur returns between the pipes tonight, and I couldn;t be happier. In a previous post, I mentioned how much I was impressed by Brodeur. I lie his style and his quiet confidence in nets, and unlike other goalies who shall remained unnamed, doesn't overplay or underplay the puck. His positioning is sound and his rebound control excellent. I can't wait to see what he does tonight.

Filip Kuba also returns to the line-up, which is good news as well, although not on the same scale as above. Alexandre Picard has done a fairly decent job of late, but Kuba's experience make him a smarter player on the ice on most nights. Add to that the fact that Alex Kovalev returns to Montreal again, and has the tendency to play well in games that are meaningful to him.

The work ethics and perseverance displayed by the Senators against the Rangers is what the team needs to put on the ice tonight. With the Sens and Habs deadlocked for the 7th place in the conference, one team will wind up close to or below the cut-off line after the game tonight. That team has to be the Senators.