The Ottawa Senators have done everything right in this rebuild.
They made the hard choices and traded away their aging stars before committing to long-term deals. They built a talented core of young players and then gave them the room to grow. Then, when the time was right, they added key veterans to help the team take the next step.
Yes indeed, they did everything right.
And now, they just need to WIN A DAMN HOCKEY GAME.
The Ottawa Senators visit the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Yesterday, the Senators announced that both Nikita Zaitsev and Magnus Hellberg have been placed on waivers. Predictably, there was excitement at the news that the Senators were finally making a move to deal with the struggling Zaitsev. While he has certainly not been the reason the Senators are losing games he um has also never been in the lineup for them winning a game, so the move makes sense. We’ll find out what happens next with Zaitsev later this afternoon but a claim seems extremely unlikely.
Meanwhile with Hellberg, it’s a case of too many goalies. As in they only want two goalies. The Senators are obviously hoping he slides through the waiver wire unscathed but you never really know with goalies.
On the ice, the Senators are desperate for solutions to what has gone from a an early-season speed bump to an all-out tailspin in an awful hurry. It’s not that they’re playing poorly and in fact, the underlying numbers suggest they are playing some of their best hockey in years. But the puck just isn’t entering the net with the frequency you would hope and at the same time, it continues to enter their net too often and at the worst possible times.
DJ Smith has somewhat unjustly worn a lot of the blame for this losing streak but that’s just the nature of a results-oriented business. And right now, the Senators aren’t getting results.
Except for tonight. They are definitely winning tonight.
No game day skate for the Senators this morning because why spend more time in New Jersey than you have to. We’ll assume the same lineup for now except without Nikita Zaitsev.
Tkachuk-Stutzle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Brassard-Batherson
Motte-Pinto-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Bernard-Docker
Sanderson-Hamonic
Holden-Brannstrom
Anton Forsberg is the likely starter for the Senators of Ottawa.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM in the swamp. The game is available on TSN5, RDS, TSN1200 and if illegal internet streams are more your speed, keep an eye on your SensChirp Premium account for a link. A reminder that for the low, low price of $8, you can have your SensChirp account VERIFIED so that nobody else takes credit for your rantings and ravings online. What a deal!
Wondering how these teams match-up and a little bit scared to find out? The HEAD2HEAD table will walk you through the situation in a polite and respectful manner.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-8-0 (8 pts) | 10-3-0 (20 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.50 (10th) | 3.62 (4th) |
| Goals Against | 3.67 (27th) | 2.54 (6th) |
| Power Play | 20.9% (17th) | 20.0% (19th) |
| Penalty Kill | 78.7% (15th) | 83.3% (5th) |
| Shots For | 32.8 (11th) | 37.6 (2nd) |
| Shots Against | 33.3 (22nd) | 24.6 (1st) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 16 pts Batherson- 12 pts DeBrincat- 11 pts Giroux- 11 pts Stützle- 11 pts |
Bratt- 18 pts Hischier- 14 pts Hughes- 12 pts Hamilton- 10 pts Tatar- 8 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Anton Forsberg 3-6-0 3.59 GAA, .898 sv% |
Vitek Vanecek 6-1-0 2.17 GAA, .915 sv% |
