FanHouse CraigHartsburg

It's been a disappointing season for the Ottawa Senators as they find themselves out of the NHL playoff picture for the first time in 11 years. As a result, the team is on its fourth head coach -- Cory Clouston -- since a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2007.

On Wednesday, the team announced that Clouston has signed a two-year contract extension to remain as the Senators head coach.

The Ottawa Senators are currently on their third head coach in the past two seasons and sitting near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The one constant over that time has been general manager Bryan Murray, and one of the former coaches is pointing the finger directly at him for the team's recent failures on the ice.

John Paddock, fired by the Senators on February 28, 2008, blasted his former boss saying, among other things, that he's now "next in line" to take the fall.

After 48 games behind the bench of the Senators, coach Craig Hartsburg is out in Ottawa.

In only his first season in Ottawa, the team has vastly underperformed and is currently sitting third-to-last in the league in points with 41. The team was 17-27-7 with Hartsburg at the helm, leaving them well clear of the playoff race.

Nikita Filatov, the No. 5 overall pick in this year's Entry Draft, entered play on Saturday night for Columbus with one goal in his first five NHL games. During the Blue Jackets 4-2 win over Minnesota, the 18-year-old rookie notched his first career hat trick -- and recorded an assist -- helping lead Columbus to its second straight win and sixth in its past eight games.

Steve Mason continued his strong play in net for the Blue Jackets, turning aside 21 of 23 shots to pick up his 15th win of the season. It's a big win for Columbus, as it entered the game trailing the Wild by one point in the Western Conference standings.

Mason is still leading the league in goals against average and save percentage, and he is still not an all-star. Crazy.

Costly win of sorts for the Ducks on Friday, as they lost Teemu Selanne to a leg injury in the first period when it appeared his own skate cut his left leg. He was helped off the ice and didn't return to the game. If he's out for any extended period of time it would obviously be a tremendous blow to Anaheim's offense, as the 38-year old forward leads the team in goals (14) and is third on the team in points (27).

As for the game itself, Anaheim took it, 3-2, in a shootout, thanks to some stellar goaltending from Jonas Hiller, who stopped 51 shots in regulation and overtime, and all three shots he faced in the shootout. The 51 saves actually matched a franchise record, so, way to go Jonas.

The Ducks special teams provided the offense, as Rob Neidermeyer picked up a shorthanded goal with 20 seconds to play in the first period, while Corey Perry notched a power play goal midway through the second period, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

That lead would hold up until the third, when Kyle Brodziak put Edmonton on the board at the 6:32 mark, while Erik Cole tied the game seven minutes later with a power play goal.

Perry scored the only goal in the shootout, giving Anaheim the win.

After advancing to the Stanley Cup finals two years ago, the Ottawa Senators opened last season on a 16-4-0 run, looking like the best team in the NHL. From that point on, however, it was all down hill as they finished the season 27-27-8, barely sneaking into playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, which led to a quick and decisive four game sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Through the first two-and-a-half months of this season, things aren't looking much better for the Senators, as they currently hold the No. 12 spot in the conference with 27 points, six points out of the final playoff spot. Though, to be fair, it's a little early to be looking at playoff spots. Maybe.

Still, they're the lowest scoring team in the NHL (only 67 goals) and are coming off an embarrassing loss, at home, against the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday. The Thrashers, by the way, entered play on Tuesday with the worst record in the league. As you might expect, this isn't exactly sitting well with the front office.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, Bryan Murray vowed to shake up the roster on Wednesday, while head coach Craig Hartsburg decided to shake up the lines, splitting up the trio of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson.