Less than 24 hours after an impressive win over the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators are right back at it against the best team in the National Hockey League.
The Senators have been playing much better hockey the last couple weeks but they’ll need to be at their absolute best to hang with this Washington Capitals team. As we enter the second half of the NHL season, the Capitals continue to solidify themselves as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
A lethal combination of high-flying offence, suffocating defence and elite goaltending have this Caps team 11 points clear of second place in the East. They’ve won three straight, have an 8-1-1 record on their last ten and are pretty much impossible to beat on home ice.
With both teams playing on back to back nights, a strong start will be key. This Capitals team can lock it down defensively as good as anybody so getting an early lead would certainly go a long way towards stealing a win in Washington.
Senators will go with the same line up as last night against the Bruins. Bobby Ryan’s status was up in the air but earlier this afternoon, the team confirmed that he will play. Here’s how the Sens will line up for this one.
Ryan-Turris-Stone
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Michalek
McCormick-Pageau-Lazar
Prince-Smith-Neil
Claesson-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Methot-Borowiecki
Andrew Hammond gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
