For the second Saturday in a row the Senators will be featured on the main CBC broadcast because they take on the Maple Leafs, this time around on home ice. If the broadcasters have the same slant as they did last week, Senators fans had better get their mute button ready because last week might as well have been a Leafs regional show than a national broadcast featuring 2 Canadian teams. You always expect a little bit of a slant towards the Leafs and Habs on HNIC, but even many Leafs fans acknowleged that last week was a little over the top with their focus on pumping the tires of William Nylander and Nikita Soshnikov.

If it wasn't for the return of Dion Phanuef to the ACC, I am not sure they would have been aware that there was another team on the ice. Like I said, that is usually the case but last week was just even more slanted than usual.

This one will mark the return to Canadian Tire Centre for a couple of the players involved in the Dion Phanuef trade as Colin Greening and Milan Michalek make an appearance in blue and white. Greening has 6 points in 14 games since the trade after getting just 1 point in 27 NHL games over the past 2 seasons with the Sens (and that coming after being awarded the goal for being hooked with an empty net, he didn't even actually put the puck in the net). Good for him, because he seems like a pretty good guy who just couldn't possibly live up to the contract his agent was fortunate enough to get from Bryan Murray.

Michalek has played 2 games after returning from the hand injury that he had at the time of the trade. Jared Cowen, the other NHL body in the trade has been sent home wrapped in bubble wrap so that he doesn't get nicked up in any way before the Leafs can buy him out the moment the buyout window opens.

Ottawa has won all three meetings against the Leafs (with 1 OT win) and they have a chance to sweep Toronto in a season series for the first time since 2000-01, where the Leafs managed just 1 point in 5 meetings.

It is the conundrum that many fanbases face, where as hard as it is, you are almost cheering for your team to lose at this point so that they don't move up in the standings and get a lower percentage shot at getting a top 3 draft pick. The Leafs don't have much to worry about, because they are 4 points clear of Winnipeg in last place, but the Senators are at risk of being able to catch a handful of teams while not really being within range of a playoff spot.

But it is still nice to beat the Leafs at any time, even if it means getting more talk of a "perfect loss" from the HNIC panel.

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