First, the good news: Dany Heatley will be back in the lineup Thursday when the Ottawa Senators host the streaking Florida Panthers.
Now, the bad news: captain Daniel Alfredsson will miss Thursday's game and is questionable for Saturday's contest at home against the Montreal Canadiens (CBC, 7 p.m. ET).
Ottawa's top forward line of Heatley, Alfredsson and Jason Spezza skated together at practice Wednesday, but Ottawa fans will only see two-thirds of that trio on the ice against the Panthers.
Heatley, who has been out injured since separating his right shoulder against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 12, has been cleared to return to action Thursday against Florida.
"(I just want) to do what I do, hopefully get some chances, shoot the puck a lot," Heatley told the club's official web site after Thursday pre-game skate. "The bottom line is, just do what it takes to help the team win a game.
"It hasn't been that great around here the last couple of weeks. There's been a lot of talk about (the team's current slump) and I want to get back on the winning track."
Heatley scored 25 goals and tallied 31 assists before the injury. The Senators have won just three of 11 games in his absence. Needless to say Heatley's teammates are happy he's coming back.
"It's huge," said centre Mike Fisher. "He's scored a lot of key goals for us and it's going to bring an emotional boost for us. It couldn't come at a better time."
Ottawa coach John Paddock said Heatley is expected to play at least 20 minutes against Florida.
Alfredsson has sat out Ottawa's last three games after suffering a hip flexor in a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Jan. 29.
Ottawa has stumbled without the Swede, losing three straight games, including a 4-3 decision to Montreal on Tuesday, a result that saw the Canadiens climb to within a point of the Eastern Conference-leading Senators.
Ottawa (68 points) could drop out of first place in the East if it fails to win against Florida and Montreal (67 points) beats the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday (CBC, 7 p.m. ET).
Ready to get back on trackAlfredsson hopes to be ready to play Saturday against the Habs, but his return could be delayed until next week.
"I'm hoping for Saturday, but I'm not going to promise anything," he said. "We'll see how it goes."
Spezza believes the club will get back on track once he is reunited with Heatley and Alfredsson.
"We're not playing our best, but we feel when we get everybody back in the lineup and we get the guys we have in the lineup playing with the confidence we had at the beginning of the year that we can be the elite team we were last year and at the start of this year," Spezza said.
"We still feel we've got a really good hockey club."
Florida, winners of three straight, is coming off an 8-0 win over Toronto on Tuesday.
The Panthers (55 points) are in 12th place in the East, four points back of the eighth-place Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot.
Campbellton, N.B., to host 2009 Hockey Day in Canada
The town of Campbellton, N.B., has been selected as the host community for the 2009 edition of CBC's Hockey Day in Canada, it was announced on Thursday at the NHL Awards ceremony.
Titans topple Colts to improve to 7-0
LenDale White ran for two touchdowns as the Tennessee Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-21 on Monday night.
Oilers continue Devil of a road trip in Jersey
When the Edmonton Oilers finish their seven-game road trip with a Sunday nighter against the New Jersey Devils (7-4-2) and Monday in Manhattan with the Rangers, they will have played seven games in 12 days.
Contact Us About Us HomeTuesday, January 6th, 2009