For the latest Sens updates, please follow me on Twitter at

Follow @KevinFr65525204


The Ottawa Senators hit the road for 3 games in 4 nights, starting tonight in Pittsburgh with the Pens fresh off a long road trip of their own in which they played 6 games in 11 nights. The Pens are 13-2 in their 15 games and are finally healthy. DJ Smith is making one lineup change, Clarke Bishop is in for Tyler Ennis so hold your breath Sens fans, Josh Brown still isn't being made a healthy scratch! As pointed out today on TSN1200 by Steve Lloyd, only Thomas Chabot, Artem Zub, and yes Brown has yet to be a healthy scratch on the blueline. Naturally, nobody expects Chabot or Zub to be in that category but the fact that Brown continuously walks away clean each game is mind-boggling. In the last few games, Brown is only getting 10 minutes TOI on the blueline, he's always getting the least amount of time and you judge a player's effectiveness in the coach's eyes with how he allots ice time, yet he continues to dress for Ottawa. To add insult, Dylan Heatherington was placed on waivers yesterday and I will post an update at 2pm if he clears or is picked up by another team.

DJ stated at his presser this morning that Bishop has worked hard in practice and deserves a chance to be in the lineup and that Ennis isn't producing. Hmm.....ok let us apply the same logic to Brown, Brown is actually hurting the team each night with his mistakes and remains in the lineup, but Heatherington from all accounts is a great pro, doesn't complain, and works hard in practice. Yet he doesn't get a chance to be in the lineup. This coach is so out of his element and one has to wonder when Sens GM Pierre Dorion steps in and says something to DJ about his lineup decisions.

In other news from the presser, Alex Formenton will get some time on the PP tonight, especially with Connor Brown out of the lineup. This was nice to hear as last game DJ had Chris Tierney playing the 2nd half of the PP at the end of the game when the team was looking to tie to the game. Not to mention, DJ didn't take a timeout to rest his number one unit instead he rolled out the 2nd unit that has had little production all year long on the PP. Plus our beloved coach didn't even pull his goalie to make it 6 on 4 then when questioned by Ian Mendes of The Athletic, DJ said they weren't getting control of the puck in the offensive zone. Chances are if you force the opposition to defend down 2 men, you would have a much better time gaining offensive zone time.

Anton Forsberg will get the start in goal, as Matt Murray is on the trip, but most likely won't dress tonight. I still have a very hard time understanding how Murray waited until 4pm on Tuesday to tell DJ he wouldn't be able to play that night. It makes no sense to me by putting your team in that position as they were very lucky to get Filip Gustavsson to Ottawa to dress as the backup just as puck drop occurred. I found it very interesting to listen to Jeff O'Neill be very frank about Murray on Overdrive yesterday on TSN1050. O-Dog said you can't have this guy making 6 million a year and as your starter when he doesn't want to play hockey all the time! He went on to say, how can you have a guy that wants to start 2 games a month. I have wondered on a few occasions what's really going on with Murray, what is management not telling us. It's now very clear that when Ottawa put Murray on waivers they weren't telling us the entire story when O'Neill stated what others haven't been willing to say. Let's not forget, it took Murray 10 days to get over the flu at the start of the season and at other times last year when you were lead to believe he was healthy only to see he wasn't even dressing as the backup. One has to wonder what Murray's frame of mind is as O-Neill says it as it is and has to have been told this info from someone close to the situation. Nobody in Ottawa would want to go on record as stating what O-Dog said but it was refreshing to hear the "real" story about Murray!

Last game Tim Stutzle and Erik Brannstrom were the Sens best players on the ice. Sure Ottawa outshot Buffalo 44-32 but many of those shots came from the perimeter. The Sens will need to take advantage of their PP tonight if they hope to knock off Pittsburgh as they were only 1 for 5 on Tuesday night. Ottawa outhit Buffalo 22-10 last game, but that doesn't come as surprise as the Sabres are a soft team and it doesn't take much to register 10 hits, you can get those numbers by accidentally running into a player at the benches on a line change.

As I stated on Twitter earlier today, with Ontario announcing only 500 fans can attend events at arenas, theatres, etc.....until February 21st, how will this affect Eugene Melnyk? Will Melnyk turn to the league in the coming to meet payroll again? How on earth can High Schools have over a thousand students in a smaller space all day, eat lunch, etc....but you can't have more than 500 fans in a larger building?! Thoughts Sens fans on Melnyk, DJ's lineup decisions, and on Matt Murray?

Join the Discussion: » 84 Comments » Post New Comment

» Which player has exceeded expectations so far this season?!

» The Sens are in the playoff conversation to start 2023!!!!

» Sens set for critical back to back home games!

» Sens Gameday/More injuries/Sale of team

» Sens Gameday in Dallas/Dorion tried very hard to trade Formenton!