After picking up three of four points during two home games against the Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota Wild, the Senators hit the road for a stop in the City of Brotherly Love.
Guy Boucher spoke to the media couple times since Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Wild and it’s clear he wants some of the team’s top forwards to do a couple things- shoot the puck and get to the net. Ottawa has had a heck of a time scoring goals lately and a lot of that has to do with being a little too fancy at times.
Probably a good time to face Steve Mason and the Philadelphia Flyers.
It’s been an up and down start to the season for the Flyers. They come in with a 7-7-2 record and while they’ve been scoring a ton of goals (tied for 3rd in the league), they just can’t keep the puck out of their own net (tied for 30th in that category). They also have one of the league’s top power plays, humming along at a 29.3% success rate.
The Flyers are sort of like the bizarro Ottawa Senators, I suppose.
No morning skate for the Senators today so we won’t know the line up until a little closer to game time. Marc Methot left the game on Sunday but did practice yesterday and should be okay to play tonight. That means Boucher will have to make a decision on the blueline. Safe to assume Freddy Claesson is the guy that comes out, unless they go with seven again.
A best guess at tonight’s line combinations.
Dzingel-Turris-Ryan
Hoffman-Brassard-Pyatt
Smith-Pageau-Stone
Puempel-Kelly-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Craig Anderson is expected to get the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
-With Andrew Hammond healthy and ready to return, the Senators are going to have to make a decision on his future in the next few days. Elliotte Friedman mentioned yesterday that the Senators are quietly determining what the trade market might look like for Hammond. Doesn’t sound like there’s much interest at this point. Bruce Garrioch mentioned this morning that waivers are an option. Worth noting that Hammond makes $1.35 mil this season while Condon makes just $575,000.
-Plenty of talk about the fate of Ottawa’s outdoor game in the last 24 hours. With Parliament Hill now out of the question and the Senators inexcusably dragging their feet over the possibility of a game at TD Place, word is the league is beginning to look at other cities. The talking point from the organization has always been “Parliament or bust” and that they view TD Place as “just another outdoor game”. Not sure I get that way of thinking. This organization is (or at least should be?) desperate for a good news story and should be doing whatever it takes to bring an outdoor game to this city. TD Place, the empty field at LeBreton, CTC Parking Lot, the rink in Corkery. Just make it happen. I know our default setting as fans has been locked on disappointment for some time now but Eugene’s pettiness (or whatever the reason is) is not an acceptable excuse. They need to figure this out.
