Twenty-four hours after one of their most impressive wins of the season, the Ottawa Senators are right back at it against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Senators saw last night what can happen when you jump on a team early in a back to back situation and will have to guard against that tonight. The Bell Centre on a Saturday night can be a tough environment if you get behind early. Another strong start would go a long way towards a win against a tough divisional opponent.
Montreal has spent the majority of the first quarter of the season at or near the top of the Atlantic Division. They have an impressive 20-11-2 record including a 12-4-1 record at the Bell Centre. And as good as their record is, the Habs have been prone to some really dreadful performances when they aren’t at their best. They are 27th in shots for and 20th in shots against and have tendency to rely heavily on Carey Price at times.
The Senators held an optional skate this morning with only a handful of players participating. Cameron spoke to the media afterwards and seemed to suggest that he’ll go with the same lineup that beat the Anaheim Ducks last night. There’s a chance Patrick Wiercioch could be ready to return but we won’t know for sure until game time. You would assume if Wiercioch can play, Chris Phillips is the odd man out. No changes to the forward combinations, obviously.
Here’s how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.
MacArthur-Turris-Stone
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan
Greening-Legwand-Michalek
Condra-Pageau-Chiasson
Borowiecki-Karlsson
Cowen-Ceci
Phillips-Gryba
Robin Lehner gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on CityTV.
