-Judging by how the Sens practiced today it seems like Andre Benoit will slide in to replace Eric Gryba. There was no chance Mike Lundin would play (in my estimation).
–Travis Yost breaks down the Sens lackadaisical powerplay and talks about their poor tendencies. It’s a very good piece and I highly recommend it. Travis then makes the case for the Sens to have a chance in the series and I think of the two elements he discusses (goaltending and avoiding penalties) only the former is realistic and it really will rest on the shoulders of Craig Anderson for Ottawa to take the series. Unfortunately for the Sens goaltender, his sample against Pittsburgh this season is not encouraging.
–Mark Parisi tries to find positives from the Sens loss by comparing it to their opening loss to the Rangers last year. While there are some surface similarities, the Penguins are not the Rangers so it doesn’t seem particularly apt to me.
-ISS has released its latest 2013 draft rankings (for their previous list go here):
| Rank | Name | Pos. | Birthdate | Shot | H | W | Team | League | Last Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seth Jones | D | 10/3/94 | R | 6.03.5 | 208 | Portland | WHL | 1 |
| 2 | Nathan MacKinnon | C | 9/1/95 | R | 6.00 | 182 | Halifax | QMJHL | 3 |
| 3 | Jonathan Drouin | LW | 3/27/95 | L | 5.10.75 | 185 | Halifax | QMJHL | 4 |
| 4 | Valeri Nichushkin | RW | 3/4/95 | L | 6.04 | 202 | Chelyabinsk Traktor | KHL | 2 |
| 5 | Sasha Barkov | C | 9/2/95 | L | 6.03 | 209 | Tappara | FinE | 5 |
| 6 | Darnell Nurse | D | 2/4/95 | L | 6.03.5 | 189 | Sault Ste. Marie | OHL | 6 |
| 7 | Elias Lindholm | C | 12/2/94 | R | 6.00 | 192 | Brynas | SweE | 8 |
| 8 | Nikita Zadorov | D | 4/15/95 | L | 6.05.25 | 230 | London | OHL | 7 |
| 9 | Sean Monahan | C | 10/12/94 | L | 6.02 | 186 | Ottawa | OHL | 9 |
| 10 | Bo Horvat | C | 4/5/95 | L | 6.00.25 | 200 | London | OHL | 10 |
| 11 | Rasmus Ristolainen | D | 10/27/94 | R | 6.04 | 207 | TPS Turku | FinE | 11 |
| 12 | Curtis Lazar | C | 2/2/95 | R | 5.11.75 | 193 | Edmonton | WHL | 12 |
| 13 | Hunter Shinkaruk | C | 10/13/94 | L | 5.11 | 175 | Medicine Hat | WHL | 13 |
| 14 | Ryan Pulock | D | 10/6/94 | R | 6.00.5 | 211 | Brandon | WHL | 14 |
| 15 | Alexander Wennberg | C | 9/22/94 | L | 6.01.5 | 190 | Djurgarden | SweJE | 15 |
| 16 | Andre Burakowsky | LW | 2/9/95 | L | 6.01.5 | 178 | Malmo | SweAl | 18 |
| 17 | Steve Santini | D | 3/7/95 | R | 6.01.5 | 207 | USA Under-18 | NTDP | 22 |
| 18 | Frederik Gauthier | C | 4/26/95 | L | 6.05 | 210 | Rimouski | QMJHL | 20 |
| 19 | Valentin Zykov | RW | 5/15/95 | R | 6.00 | 210 | Baie-Comeau | QMJHL | 16 |
| 20 | Kerby Rychel | LW | 10/7/94 | L | 6.01 | 200 | Windsor | OHL | 17 |
| 21 | Josh Morrissey | D | 3/28/95 | L | 5.11.75 | 182 | Prince Albert | WHL | 19 |
| 22 | Madison Bowey | D | 4/22/95 | R | 6.00.75 | 200 | Kelowna | WHL | 27 |
| 23 | Anthony Mantha | LW | 9/16/94 | L | 6.04 | 190 | Val d’Or | QMJHL | 25 |
| 24 | JT Compher | C | 4/8/95 | R | 5.10.5 | 184 | USA Under-18 | NTDP | 21 |
| 25 | Max Domi | C | 3/2/95 | L | 5.09.25 | 193 | London | OHL | 26 |
| 26 | Nicolas Petan | C | 3/22/95 | L | 5.08.5 | 163 | Portland | WHL | 29 |
| 27 | Dillon Heatherington | D | 5/9/95 | L | 6.03 | 196 | Swift Current | WHL | 37 |
| 28 | Michael McCarron | RW | 3/7/95 | R | 6.05 | 228 | USA Under-18 | NTDP | 62 |
| 29 | Chris Bigras | D | 2/22/95 | L | 6.00.5 | 189 | Owen Sound | OHL | 30 |
| 30 | Samuel Morin | D | 7/12/95 | L | 6.07 | 200 | Rimouski | QMJHL | 45 |
Robert Hagg (#23), Jason Dickinson (#24), and Ryan Hartman (#28), fell out of the top-30.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 