Looking at the schedule, the first road trip of the season had the potential to be a daunting one for the Ottawa Senators.
Not only because they were facing a couple quality teams during the three game swing but also because they had to do it without two of their regulars on the blueline. With both Erik Karlsson and Johnny Oduya out for the first two games of the trip, the Senators were in a pretty tough spot.
But the team has responded in a big way. They finally ended up on the right end of a shootout in Vancouver on Tuesday and followed that up with a sound trouncing of the Flames last night in Calgary.
The Senators look to cap off the road trip with another solid effort against Connor McDavid and the high-flying Edmonton Oilers.
After tonight, Ottawa will play five straight on home ice and six of seven to close out the first month of the season.
Facing this Edmonton team on a back to back isn’t ideal but the fact that they controlled the game most of the way against Calgary meant a relatively easy night at the office for some players. Boucher was able to distribute the ice time evenly throughout the line up and as a result, the team should be relatively fresh for this one.
They also catch a bit of a break on the injury front as Leon Draisaitl won’t be available for Edmonton because of a minor eye injury.
Earlier today, the Senators announced that Christian Jaros has been returned to Belleville of the American Hockey League.
Guy Boucher just met with the media in Edmonton and said Johnny Oduya draws back in and he’ll again go with seven defenceman and eleven forwards.
Ryan-Brassard-Stone
Smith-Turris-Dzingel
Hoffman-Pageau-Pyatt
Thompson-Burrows
Claesson-Ceci
Phaneuf-Borowiecki
Chabot-Wideman
Oduya
Mike Condon gets the start for Ottawa.
Craig Anderson was sharp last night but with 19 back to backs on the schedule, the thinking is the Senators will split the starts at every opportunity. While I’m sure there was a temptation to go back to the hot hand, Boucher was clear that Condon was getting one of these games.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 10:00 PM tonight. The game is available on CBC.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 2-0-2 (6 pts) | 1-2-0 (2 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.25 (T-11th) | 2.33 (T-22nd) |
| Goals Against | 1.75 (T-2nd) | 2.67 (T-8th) |
| Power Play | 8.7% (26th) | 11.1% (24th) |
| Penalty Kill | 100.0% (1st) | 83.3% (13th) |
| Shots For/Shots Against | 35.0 (9th) 27.8 (3rd) |
39.7 (4th) 32.0 (12th) |
| Ice Time Leaders | Ceci- 23:53 Phaneuf- 22:36 Claesson- 22:09 |
Klefbom- 24:11 McDavid- 21:48 Larsson- 21:43 |
| Leading Scorers | Brassard- 5 pts Stone- 4 pts Turris/Ryan- 4 pts |
McDavid- 4 pts Maroon- 3 pts Draisaitl- 3 pts |
