With less than ten games to go, the Eastern Conference playoff race is about to really heat up.
Both the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins each play twice this weekend. The Bruins host New York at 1:00 PM today and then travel to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes tomorrow. Meanwhile the Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight and then the Florida Panthers tomorrow.
Four crucial games that will go a long way towards deciding who grabs that final Wild Card spot in the East.
The Leafs don’t have a whole lot to play for down the stretch and certainly look like a team that has packed it in for the season. Actually, they’ve looked that way for the last two months. With that said, you know they’d love nothing more than to hurt the Senators’ playoff chances. We saw it when these two teams met last weekend that if Ottawa treats this like a walk in the park, the Leafs will make them pay.
At this stage of the season, the Senators really can’t afford to take any opponent lightly.
One change expected to the Ottawa line up as Clarke MacArthur returns. He’s missed more than a month with a concussion but should give Ottawa a bit of a boost up front. MacArthur’s return means Colin Greening is back in the pressbox. No changes expected on defence. Here’s how the Sens are lined up at the morning skate.
MacArthur-Turris-Stone
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan
Condra-Pageau-Lazar
Smith-Legwand-Chiasson
Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Borowiecki-Gryba
And some good news on the injury front in goal too as Craig Anderson returns for Ottawa. Chris Driedger will dress as his back up. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
Go. Sens. Go.
