Game 32: Stars vs. Senators

The Senators are 11-13-5 (11-18, adjusted) this season and find themselves last in their division, trailing Toronto by three points. The Stars are 13-14-4 (13-18, adjusted) and are also last in their division despite winning six of their last ten. Maybe I should change my toon with the Stars? Well, I remain skeptical at best...

Injuries: Sergei Zubov, Brendon Morrow, Jere Lehtinen are all on the injured reserve, however Zubov is having hip surgery and his career in now in question. Dean McAmmond has Pheumonia and I would say he would be questionable for the Stars game. I don't think the adsense of McAmmond is going to be felt...

Dallas Stars Player Stats 08-09

Name	Brad Richards	Loui Eriksson	Mike Ribeiro	Mike Modano
Goals	7	17	4	11
Assists	19	8	21	10
Points	26	25	25	21
+/-	-7	3	-8	-1

Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson had a monster game against the Blue Jackets. They will be facing a Senators team that are playing on the second game of back-to-back games. Fatigue could be a factor, but it would be determined mostly by what happens for the Senators against the Devils.

Ottawa Senators Player Stats 08-09

Name	Dany Heatley	Daniel Alfredsson	Jason Spezza	Filip Kuba
Goals	14	8	12	1
Assists	14	18	10	19
Points	28	26	22	20
+/-	0	7	3	8

Should Ottawa keep these four on the ice, they would appear to have a really good shot at things. Again, I wonder if fatigue will play in as a factor in this game. To even things out, though, the Senators will be playing at home.

Forecast: Zubov has had a good career. He really has. His absense will be felt... mostly due to respect, it will affect the demeanor of the players. The Senators will be tired, at least a little bit, which will affect how they play. They could grab some energy from a pumped up crowd, but I do question just how pumped up the crowd will be since this is a last place team with little chance to make the playoffs. And Stars are playing better of late. Look for a score of 4-3, Stars.

Home Ice