Guy Boucher gave his team the full day off yesterday and it was probably the right thing to do.
Not that they couldn’t have used the day of practice but the Senators have played a ton of hockey the last couple weeks and in-game injuries have led to a lot of guys playing more minutes than they’re used to. And at times, they’ve looked like a tired hockey team.
A day of rest will hopefully give Ottawa a little extra jump as they close out their three game homestand against the Florida Panthers.
The last time these two teams met it was the Roberto Luongo show. The Senators dominated the game most of the way but just couldn’t find a way to get enough pucks past Luongo. The Senators did everything right that night and should be confident that they can generate chances against this Florida team.
Up front, one of the Panthers biggest offensive threat continues to be the incredible Jaromir Jagr. At the ripe old age of 44, he continues to find a way to contribute. With 1880 points, Jagr sits third on the all-time points list, just 8 points back of Mark Messier for second overall. I’m fairly confident he won’t catch Gretzky for first overall but I also think there’s a chance he plays till he’s 100, so you never know.
On Ottawa’s side of things, the challenge remains playing through the absence of some key players. Andreas Englund and Buddy Robinson were both recalled from Binghamton yesterday and there’s a chance both draw into the line up. Marc Methot sounds like a game time decision.
Just an optional morning skate for the Senators today so a best guess at tonight’s line up.
Hoffman-Brassard-Stone
Dzingel-Turris-Lazar
Smith-Pageau-Pyatt
Robinson-Kelly-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Mike Condon gets another start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
-Nothing new on Ottawa’s search for some additional depth up front. With Bobby Ryan expected to miss a couple weeks and Clarke MacArthur not expected back until the new year, the Senators realize they could probably use a temporary fix to help get them through the month of December. The waiver wire was mentioned as an option and right now, New Jersey Devil Reid Boucher is the only option on that front.
-Not a bad day for 2016 2nd round pick Jonathan Dahlen. Early in the day, it was announced that he was on the roster for Team Sweden at this year’s World Junior tournament. And then later that day, he scored twice, and finished the game with an incredible 13 shots on goal. Starting to look more and more like this kid was a steal in the second round of the draft.
.@Senators prospect Jonathan Dahlén just sniped a top corner beauty vs Västervik late in the 2nd period… #TimraIK pic.twitter.com/46venHx90z
— Robert Söderlind (@HockeyWebCast) December 2, 2016
Dahlén just scored his 2nd of the game... Tied at 3. #TimraIK pic.twitter.com/A1480GmNIr
— Robert Söderlind (@HockeyWebCast) December 2, 2016
