After a much better effort in the second game of a difficult back to back, the Ottawa Senators now look to build on that performance as close out their California road trip.
Next up- the San Jose Sharks.
There are just two games remaining on this seven game road trip from hell. Ottawa has a 1-3-1 record to this point, picking up just 3 of a possible 10 points. Obviously not ideal but they still have a chance to break even on the trip.
A quick look at the standings shows the Sens trail the 3rd place Bruins by 5 points although Boston has a game in hand. At the same time, their 25 points have them sitting ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference. Still within striking distance but a lot of teams to pass if they want to climb back into the playoff picture.
The good news is, in Los Angeles, the Senators finally showed some signs of life. Offensively, at least. The power play finally broke through and they found a way to fight back late in the game against an elite defensive team. But while they generated more chances, they also gave up way more than they did the previous night against the Ducks.
It was definitely an effort the Senators can build on but a few things still left to clean up in the neutral zone and in their own end of the rink.
Tonight’s opposition is coming off a dramatic overtime win on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. They trailed 4-1 heading into the third period but rallied, tying the game with a 3rd period shorthanded goal by someone named Barclay Goodrow. Brent Burns would score the eventual overtime winner. Despite a sluggish start to their season, San Jose sits 3rd in the Pacific Division.
Full day off for the Senators yesterday but they’ll be back on the ice for a game day skate at 2:30 PM. Freddy Claesson sits out a third straight game on defence.
A best guess at the line up for now.
Smith-Brassard-Stone
Dzingel-Duchene-Ryan
Hoffman-Pageau-Dumont
Pyatt-Thompson-Burrows
Harpur-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Chabot
Oduya-Ceci
Craig Anderson is expected to get the start in goal for Ottawa. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 10:00 PM.
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 |
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-11-7 (25 pts) | 15-10-2 (32 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.81 (23rd) | 2.59 (29th) |
| Goals Against | 3.30 (25th) | 2.37 (2nd) |
| Power Play | 16.7% (26th) | 18.4% (18th) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.6% (24th) | 86.7% (2nd) |
| Shots For/Shots Against | 30.7 (22nd) 30.5 (7th) |
32.3 (10th) 29.5 (2nd) |
| Ice Time Leaders | Karlsson- 25:25 Ceci- 21:49 Stone- 20:54 |
Burns- 25:06 Vlasic- 22:17 Braun- 20:33 |
| Leading Scorers | Stone- 25 pts Hoffman- 21 pts Karlsson- 18 pts |
Couture- 22 pts Thornton- 19 pts Hertl- 15 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Craig Anderson 7-9-3 3.01 GAA, .895 sv% |
Aaron Dell 4-3-1 1.93 GAA, .933 sv% |
