Heatley and Spezza

Heatley was named the 2nd star of the week after scoring 5 goals and leading the Sens to wins against Buffalo and Philly.

There's talk in Ottawa that when Spezza returns Murray should consider playing him on a different line. The thinking is that Heatley plays a bigger game when he's not only the trigger man for Spezza.

While I've advocated this in the past I'm not sure that the long term answer should include Chris Kelly as the center for Heatley - the memory of open nets missed during the Sabre series last spring when he was playing the wing with Spezza and Heatley. Maybe playing the pivot puts Kelly in a more comfortable situation by giving him a more defensive role allowing Alfie and Heatley to press. The other question is then if not Kelly then who? Comrie? Fisher or Vermette when they come back?

However, the Gerber debacle in the fall taught us one thing. If the team gets wins with a certain lineup then go with it. That means keep Kelly between Heatley and Alfie until the results demand otherwise.

So who does Spezza play with? I'd like to see him play with Neil and a guy like Vermette.