The Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs will play the fourth installment of five in their season series.
It has been a long time since the so called Battle of Ontario was this important late in the NHL season. The Sens hold a two point edge on the Leafs for fifth place in the tight Eastern Conference. Massive game at Scotiabank Place tonight.
The Leafs have a 2-1 edge in the season series with the final instalment between the provincial rivals coming on April 20th.
Fans across the National Hockey League are waiting for the usual Leafs drop off but to this point anyway, it hasn't happened. The Leafs are seven points clear of the 9th place Islanders and have won their last two hockey games. It would take a monumental collapse for them to fall out of the playoff picture ay this point.
Fingers crossed…
At the other end, the Senators continue to roll along despite a ridiculous run of injury luck. Ottawa has posted a 7-1-2 record in their last ten games, gaining 16 of a possible 20 points and giving themselves a bit of a cushion in the East. Chris Neil suffered a deep cut to his leg on Thursday night and is being considered questionable for this one. He tried it out at the morning skate but left after a couple minutes. If he can't go, Peter Regin will take his spot in the line up.
Here is how Head Coach Paul MacLean lined up his players at the morning skate:
Hoffman-Turris-Alfredsson
Latendresse-Zibanejad-Silfverberg
Greening-O'Brien-Neil
Kassian-Smith-Condra
Methot-Gryba
Wiercioch-Gonchar
Benoit-Phillips
After a solid performance against the New York Rangers on Thursday night, Ben Bishop makes another start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.
GO SENS GO!
