You are forgiven if the prospect of a Senators/Sabres showdown on a Tuesday night doesn’t exactly get you fired up. Two of the worst teams in the National Hockey League going toe to toe with very little on the line in mid-February isn’t really a recipe for excitement.
But that’s what we’re faced with tonight. And as the Senators fall further and further out of the playoff picture, it’s going to become the norm around here.
To their credit, the Senators haven’t exactly been mailing it in. Their effort level has been pretty good since the All Star break but the results just haven’t been there. Goals have been hard to come by the last little while. Ottawa has scored just three times in their last three games, which probably explains some of the frustration we’ve seen from Robin Lehner the last little while. He’s finally starting to get his game back on track and now the offence has dried up.
An interesting stat that sort of sums up the season the Senators have had so far- of their 51 games, 31 have been decided but just one goal. It’s not like this team has been getting blown out all season but the whole “finding ways to win” has certainly been an issue.
Right now, Ottawa’s goal differential sits at -5 while a truly awful team like the Buffalo Sabres sit at -87. Just remember that as bad as this season may seem, it has been soooooo much worse in Buffalo.
Dave Cameron will make a couple changes to his line up tonight. Up front, Jean Gabriel Pageau looked like a healthy scratch until Bobby Ryan left practice early. Now it sounds like there’s a chance Ryan won’t play. On defence, Chris Phillips is week to week with oldness. The other scratch on the blueline has been a bit of a mystery leading up to tonight’s game but based on reports from the morning skate, it looks like Cody Ceci could be the odd man out. Interesting decision.
Here’s how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.
MacArthur-Zibanejad-Michalek
Lazar-Turris-Stone
Hoffman-Pageau-Chiasson
Condra-Legwand-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Cowen-Gryba
Wiercioch-Borowiecki
Robin Lehner gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on TSN5 and RDS2.
