When Brady Tkachuk willed that puck over the goal line and into the net in the dying seconds on Thursday night, he gave the Sens life.
That’s just the reality of where the team finds itself right now. Win and the dramatic push for one of the last playoff spots in the East continues. Lose and it feels like it’s all over. We’re not in “must win” territory just yet but it certainly felt that way against the Islanders. Same thing tonight. Who wants to be the hero?
The Ottawa Senators host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
You’ll hear a lot about playoff percentages today. Somewhere between 30% and 50%, depending on the model you put your faith in. Projections are fun this time of year but the equation is actually pretty simple for the Senators – just win a whole lotta hockey games. There are teams nipping at their heels and playoff spots now just within their grasp. There are big games happening in other cities too this weekend. But none of that matters if the Sens can’t take care of their own business.
Gotta have this one. The biggest game of the year. Until the next.
Travis Green will have his team on the ice for the morning skate in a lil bit but I think we can expect a similar arrangement as the other night against the Islanders. There was some interesting forward juggling in that game, including Warren Foegele and Fabian Zetterlund joining Tim Stützle for a moment, and maybe we see that again tonight. Something like this to start…
Batherson-Stützle-Giroux
Tkachuk-Cozens-Greig
Cousins-Pinto-Amadio
Foegele-Eller-Zetterlund
Chabot-Zub
Kleven-Spence
Gilbert-Matinpalo
Expect this to be a Linus Ullmark spot but James Reimer has been very good.
Puck drop is at 7:08 PM at The Tire. Don’t be late. The game is on CBC and Sportsnet. Streams are an option too. But if you have the means, this is a good time to buy a ticket or ten and head down to the CTC and fill a seat with a Sens fan.
Sad leaf fans from Arnprior and Kemptville are pawning off their tickets at lower than face value here.
The organization has a good deal for Sens fans here.
Cmonnnnnnnnn, it’s Saturday night. See ya there.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 29-28-13 (71 pts) | 35-24-9 (79 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.11 (16th) | 3.32 (9th) |
| Goals Against | 3.44 (30th) | 3.10 (20th) |
| Power Play | 19.2% (20th) | 22.8% (9th) |
| Penalty Kill | 82.9% (4th) | 74.2% (30th) |
| Shots For | 27.2 (22nd) | 28.8 (9th) |
| Shots Against | 32.3 (32nd) | 24.2 (1st) |
| Leading Scorers | Nylander-64 pts Knies-57 pts Tavares-56 pts Matthews-53 pts OEL-35 pts |
Stutzle-71 pts Batherson-60 pts Cozens-50 pts Sanderson-48 pts Tkachuk-47 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Anthony Stolarz 8-9-3 3.05 GAA, .894 sv% |
Linus Ullmark 21-10-7 2.77 GAA, .885 sv% |