Game Day Notes: Sens vs. Islanders

Brian Gibbons talks a bit about his opportunity with the Senators, we take a look at tonight's projected line-up and more before our rematch against the Islanders.

Gibbons fitting in with Sens

The past 10 days have been a bit of a whirlwind for Brian Gibbons but after being acquired by the Senators on February 25th the 31-year-old winger has been finding his stride in Ottawa.
"I wasn't playing a lot, especially near the end in Anaheim, so it's been a fresh start here" said Gibbons. "The guys have been really great and have welcomed me in. We've started to play some pretty good hockey over the last couple of games so hopefully we can keep it going for the rest of the season."
While Gibbons continues to get acquainted with his new teammates, there was at least one familiar face from his past: Sens rookie Colin White. The pair each hail from Massachusetts and have shared some off-season practice sessions almost a decade ago while Gibbons was playing for the Boston College Eagles.
"I've known Colin since he was 12 or 13 years old," said Gibbons who skated on a line with White and Brady Tkachuk on Tuesday against the Islanders. "He used to work out with some of the older guys in the summer around Boston so it's been good to watch all his hard work pay off and it's been a lot of fun to get to play with him again after all these years."

With goals in each of his last two games, Gibbons has now recorded 4 points (2G, 2A) in his first 5 games with the Senators and has enjoyed the offensive opportunities he's had so far in Ottawa.
"Everyone wants to score goals and get points," Gibbons said. "I had a tough start offensively in Anaheim but I've just tried to keep working, play the right way and lately I've been rewarded for that."

Projected Line-up

Sens interim head coach Marc Crawford stated this morning that there will be no line-up changes for tonight's game against the Islanders. Christian Jaros, who missed Tuesday's game on Long Island with an injury, will likely miss the next two games with a hamstring issue. Crawford did share a potential return date that could see Jaros back in action against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 11th.
The coach also confirmed that the Sens will roll with their current healthy 18 skaters this evening and won't recall anyone from Belleville who are currently in Cleveland for a game tonight. Crawford also appears to have mixed up his lines a little as he continues to integrate some of the new faces in search for some chemistry.
"It's been 5 games now since we've made the changes to our line-up," Crawford said. "So we're getting an opportunity to see how different guys work together."

Here's how the forward lines and defence pairings looked at today's skate:
Smith - White - Ryan
Tkachuk - Pageau - Duclair
Balcers - Tierney - Paajarvi
Gibbons - Lindberg - Boedker
Chabot - DeMelo
Wolanin - Ceci
Borowiecki - Harpur

In Goal

Anders Nilsson (11-16-1) will be back between the pipes tonight for the Senators set to take on the team that initially drafted him in the 3rd round way back in 2009. Nilsson was stellar in his last start turning aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced to pick up the victory against the Panthers on Sunday and he'll be looking to make lock down wins in consecutive starts for the first time since February 9th.

Where to Watch

It's a 7:30 p.m. start tonight at Canadian Tire Centre and if you'd like to come join us in person you can grab some tickets
right here
.
Can't make it to the rink? Then why not hit up Oliver's Pub on campus at Carleton University where they'll be serving up $4.25 cans of Molson Canadian during tonight's game.