On the heels of a solid yet maybe unspectacular win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, the Ottawa Senators now hit the road for maybe their toughest stretch so far this season.
They’ll play seven of their next nine games away from home, beginning with a four game stretch that begins on the East Coast and ends with match-ups against the three California teams including back to back afternoon games on Saturday and Sunday.
The Senators have been pretty impressive in the early going but the next few weeks should give us a pretty good idea of where this team is really at as we pass the quarter mark of the NHL’s regular season.
Up first- Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
Remember last year when the Penguins stumbled out of the gate a little bit and experts began to wonder if maybe it was the beginning of the end for Sidney Crosby? Yea that may have been a tad premature.
The Penguins are the reigning champs and Crosby is once again among the league’s leading scorers. And while they’re not without their flaws, this Penguins team looks like the team to beat in the East. Their offence is among the best in the league although their goals against (26th) and shots against (28th) have both been unusually high.
Andrew Hammond was returned to Binghamton last night which means that Craig Anderson will join the team on this upcoming road trip. There’s a chance Marc Methot could return tonight but we won’t know for sure until game time. He was on the ice briefly at the morning skate but left part way through.
Hoffman-Brassard-Stone
Dzingel-Turris-Pyatt
Smith-Pageau-Robinson
Lazar-Kelly-Neil
Englund-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
