On the heels of what may have been the best weekend of their season, the Ottawa Senators kick off another tough back to back this week.
The Senators play host to the Chicago Blackhawks tonight before heading to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs tomorrow. After that, Ottawa has a full seven days off. In a season where so much has gone wrong for the Senators, you know they’ll want to head into that extended break on a high note.
It won’t come easy against Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the rest of the Blackhawks.
The weekend wins over the Sharks and Lightning have this Ottawa team suddenly feeling pretty good about where their game is at. They seem to finally have some forward combinations that are clicking and just as importantly, they are getting much better performances from their top players, especially Erik Karlsson and Craig Anderson.
It looks like they may have made some tactical adjustments too, at times playing a more aggressive game in the offensive zone and engaging all three forwards in the play. Add all that up and you have a team that has scored 12 goals in their last two games.
If you’re looking for an interesting story-line on the other side, look no further than Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Jeff Glass. The name should be somewhat familiar. Way back in 2004, the Senators used a 4th round pick on the Calgary, Alberta native. Incredibly, the now 32 year old Glass just made his debut in the NHL this season.
After Glass led Team Canada to a Gold Medal in 2005, he spent four years in the Senators organization, all in Binghamton. Glass won 42 games down there but never did enough to earn a chance with the big club.
Glass then left for the KHL where he spent the better part of eight seasons with six different teams. He returned to North America last year and when Corey Crawford went down with an injury this season, he finally got an opportunity. Glass has started four games with the Blackhawks, posting a .908 sv% and a 3.51 goals against average.
The Senators will have to chase Hawks starter Anton Forsberg if Glass is going to get a shot against the organization that drafted him 14 long years ago though.
Ottawa’s line up will remain a bit of a mystery until game time.
Derick Brassard and Cody Ceci will both play. Johnny Oduya is out and Freddy Claesson is in. Matt Duchene, who has the flu, is considered a game time decision. If he can’t go, then Mark Borowiecki will draw in and the Senators will go 11/7. We won’t know for sure until game time.
A best guess at the line up for now.
Dzingel-Brassard-Stone
Hoffman-Duchene-Ryan
Pyatt-Pageau-Smith
Burrows-White-Dumont
Chabot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Harpur-Claesson
Craig Anderson, a former Blackhawk, gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 20-15-6 (46 pts) | 14-17-9 (37 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.05 (11th) | 2.75 (20th) |
| Goals Against | 2.76 (13th) | 3.33 (28th) |
| Power Play | 14.4% (29th) | 15.8% (27th) |
| Penalty Kill | 81.4% (T-13th) | 76.3% (28th) |
| Shots For/Shots Against | 34.5 (2nd) 33.0 (25th) |
30.7 (23rd) 31.8 (15th) |
| Leading Scorers | Kane- 40 pts Toews- 29 pts Schmaltz- 28 pts |
Stone- 40 pts Karlsson- 30 pts Hoffman- 28 pts |
| Team Shooting % | 8.8% (T-18th) | 8.9% (17th) |
| Team Save % | .917 (6th) | .895% (T-28th) |
