These are truly dark times for fans of the Ottawa Senators.
With 49 games remaining in the NHL’s regular season, eyes have already started to drift downwards in the standings. Instead of counting the number of points to a playoff position (it’s 10 with 2 games in hand by the way), fans have already started to look in the rear-view mirror.
The Senators come into tonight’s action sitting just 5 points clear of the 30th place Buffalo Sabres and only 9 up the last-place Arizona Coyotes. I’m not there yet personally but people are already starting to talk about some of the top prospects for the draft in June. The dreaded “T” word has even made an appearance.
And it’s still December. Dark times, indeed.
The Ottawa Senators look to head into the holiday break on a high-note as they visit the team just ahead of them- the 28th place Florida Panthers.
As if the struggles weren’t bad enough, the team is now starting to be hit by the injury bug a little bit.
Zack Smith injured his shoulder in the game against Tampa Bay and is expected to be out for a few weeks. Bobby Ryan re-injured his finger (not broken this time) and he won’t play tonight. They hope to have him back after the holiday break though. With both Smith and Ryan on the shelf, the Senators will turn to a couple call-ups for a little help.
#Sens Head Coach Guy Boucher updates the media on injuries and the line-up as the team prepares to take on the Panthers tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/000Xe7R114
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 22, 2017
Chris DiDomenico was recalled yesterday and he’s expected to play. Same goes for Filip Chlapik. We’ll see what happens with the defence a little closer to game time. Dion Phaneuf missed last game to be there for the birth of his child and he won’t be in the line up again vs the Panthers. Andreas Englund is with the team but it seems unlikely he gets in with both Harpur and Chabot on the roster. Unless they go 11/7.
A best guess at the line up based on yesterday’s practice.
Dzingel-Duchene-Burrows
Thompson-Brassard-Stone
Hoffman-Pageau-Pyatt
Paul-Chlapik-DiDomenico
Oduya-Karlsson
Harpur-Ceci
Claesson-Chabot
Mike Condon is expected to get the start for the Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 11-14-8 (30 pts) | 14-16-5 (33 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.76 (23rd) | 2.86 (T-17th) |
| Goals Against | 3.27 (27th) | 3.34 (29th) |
| Power Play | 16.5% (25th) | 17.3% (21st) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.9% (24th) | 80.2% (19th) |
| Shots For/Shots Against | 30.4 (25th) 31.3 (12th) |
34.3 (5th) 35.3 (31st) |
| Ice Time Leaders | Karlsson- 26:20 Ceci- 22:29 Stone- 21:01 |
Yandle- 24:45 Ekblad- 24:11 Barkov- 22:28 |
| Leading Scorers | Stone- 31 pts Hoffman- 24 pts Karlsson- 23 pts |
Trochek- 35 pts Huberdeau- 34 pts Barkov- 32 pts |
| Team Shooting % | 8.3% (T-24th) | 9.1% (T-13th) |
