On the heels of one of their most impressive team efforts of the season, the Ottawa Senators are right back at it on Monday night.
And the opposition will be a team they’ve seen a lot of the in the early going- the Detroit Red Wings.
These two teams have gotten to know each other pretty well in the first couple months of the season. This will be the third time the Red Wings and Senators have squared off already with each team picking up a win so far.
Ottawa and Detroit play each other a total of five times this season with the final two games coming in February. Every point is important obviously but you get the sense these two teams could be battling for a playoff spot down the stretch making these head to head match ups that much more important.
The Sens currently sit three points clear of the Wings in the Atlantic Division.
Kyle Turris missed practice yesterday but based on the morning skate, it seems like he’s ready to play. Still no sign of Jared Cowen. Shane Prince will be a healthy scratch. Here’s how Dave Cameron has his team lined up at the morning skate.
Hoffman-Turris-Stone
Puempel-Zibanejad-Ryan
Michalek-Pageau-Chiasson
Lazar-Smith-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Craig Anderson starts for the Senators. Yesterday, the Sens announced they have recalled Matt O’Connor from Binghamton of the American Hockey League. Andrew Hammond left practice early on Sunday after taking a shot in the helmet.
Puck drops just after at 7:30 PM.
-Nothing new on those Matt Duchene rumours from last week. The Colorado Avalanche strongly denied publicly although people I’ve spoken with insist there was conversation that took place regarding Duchene. From my own perspective, I have a hard time seeing how Ottawa could get something done here. They don’t really seem to have strength in the area the Avalanche are looking (defence) and their preference for dollar in/dollar out makes things especially difficult. It’s worth noting that on the weekend, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Avs were the team that came close to acquiring Patrick Wiercioch at last year’s trade deadline.
