The Week Ahead: The Plinko edition

by Joe Boughner and his assistant Mike Wheeler

".... and a new car!" (shoop by @McLlwainsWorld)

Like a pack of Canadian snowbirds with an unhealthy obsession with The Price Is Right, this week the Senators head to California and get ready to line up for a few showcase showdowns. It's the last stretch of games before the March 2 trade deadline and every roster move takes on a special significance, where the rotating cast of defenders will undoubtedly be put on display like one of Bryan's Beauties in an attempt to get the actual NHL contenders to make the highest bid (related: you could probably get Colin Greening by bidding a dollar).

Alright, on to the preview before Mark Goodson's estate sues us over this extended metaphor.

Last week's record

• 2-1-0 TWO GAME WIN STREAK ALERT

This week's matchups

• Wednesday @ Anaheim
• Thursday @ Los Angeles
• Saturday @ San Jose

Storylines to watch

QUIZ: Will you be awake?

LATE GAMES! Did you know that sometimes there are hockey played at night after the games that start at normal human times like 7:00 p.m. EST and 7:30 p.m. EST? It's true! Take the quiz to find out if you will be able to stay awake for these games that take place well past Condra's bedtime!

10:00 p.m. against Anaheim: This is a late-night game on a Wednesday night. You need to be up early for work on Thursday and you're normally in bed by around 10:30. Maybe catch the first period to see how it's going and then decide?

Will you be awake? Probably not.

10:30 p.m. against Los Angeles: You're not as young as you used to be. This is a Thursday night and you are going to have to sleep if you want to make it through Friday. You will definitely be asleep before puck-drop.

Will you be awake? Not a chance.

10:00 p.m. against San Jose: This Saturday night game seems like a shoe-in for one that you should be able to watch no problem. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. You're going to have to stay awake through the entire Leafs-Habs game. Sure, watching the Leafs lose should give some entertainment, but unfortunately, the Habs always lose to bad teams. Think about how awake you're going to be when it's 4-1 Toronto heading into the second intermission. Not very. You had a busy week, a crazy Saturday and you're just going to rest your eyes for a few minutes.

Will you be awake? You tried, but sadly, you're not gonna make it.

Don't Colin a comeback!

The Greening Shuffle, incidentally, never really caught on.
(GIF stolen from the good folks at 6th Sens)

He's gonna knock you out!
Colin said knock you out!
He's gonna knock you out!
Colin said knock you out!

Nah, just kidding. He doesn't fight much. That's one of the reasons he was sent to Bingo in the first place.

Oh, also, he won't actually be playing. He's on the trip as an insurance policy (known in hockey circles as 'doing the Da Costa shuffle').

He hamburgled our hearts, will he hamburgle some games?

Andrew Hammond's 2-0 record as an NHL starter is a nice story. He's played well but the team's played well in front of him. It didn't hurt that the Sens' opponents sharted the bed a bit in the games against him either, likely taking a win over the AHL goalie (and his AHL calibre teammates) for granted.

For his next trick will he go to the deadly west coast and steal a few wins in rinks that tend to bring out the worst in the Senators? If so, there'll be a few . . . grimaces . . . on some western conference faces.

#NailedIt

Parting shots

• Statline of the week:  $1.45M (combined NHL salary of our undefeated goaltending tandem)
• Imagined Sun headline of the week: "Hammond (Goose) Eggs!" (if the Sens pitch a shutout)
• What Sens fans will be complaining about on Twitter: 10 pm starts