These multi-day breaks between games might be nice for the players but they certainly make for some long days for fans.
Three days after their most impressive performance of the regular season, the Ottawa Senators are finally back at it tonight against the Calgary Flames.
While the schedule has been fairly easy on the Senators so far this season, they’re about to get a whole lot busier. They’re in Calgary tonight, Edmonton on Sunday and then they return home for three straight on Tuesday (Carolina), Thursday (Vancouver) and Saturday (Buffalo).
It’s a crucial stretch for the Sens as they try to get on a bit of a roll and at the same time, keep pace with a competitive Atlantic Division. Montreal, Detroit and Tampa Bay have all got out to strong starts this year.
It’s been an up and down start for tonight’s opposition- the Calgary Flames.
They lost the first three games of their season to the Oilers, Oilers and Canucks but have bounced back a little bit lately including two impressive road wins in Chicago and St. Louis. Calgary added a couple significant pieces this summer but they remain as unpredictable as Brian Burke’s hair.
Sorry, I just really wanted to work that picture into this post somehow.
From Ottawa’s perspective, they begin what could be a lengthy stretch without their starting goalie. Craig Anderson was granted a leave of absence from the team yesterday and there’s no timeline for his return. That means Andrew Hammond will be given a chance to run with the starting job for a little bit. If he falters, Chris Driedger (who has never, ever been scored on) could get a chance.
Bobby Ryan briefly left practice the other day after taking a Mike Hoffman shot in the leg but it sounds like he’ll be good to go tonight. No changes expected to the Ottawa line up but we’ll have to wait until the morning skate to find out for sure.
Hoffman-Turris-Pyatt
Dzingel-Brassard-Ryan
Smith-Pageau-Stone
Puempel-Kelly-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Andrew Hammond gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 9:00 PM.
