Let me tell you a thing or two about struggling on the road.
In their inaugural season, the Ottawa Senators finished the year with a 1-41-0 record away from the Civic Centre.
At one point, they dropped an incredible 38 straight games on the road. They lost their first road game in franchise history by a 9-2 final at the hands of the powerhouse Quebec Nordiques. The Buffalo Sabres beat them 12-3 later that same month.
In fact, it wasn’t until the month of April that the Senators finally won a game on the road. Game 81 of 84.
They squeaked out a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders in a game where they were outshot to the tune of 45 to 19. Peter Sidorkiewicz was the star for the Sens that night and Glenn Healy was a steaming pile of garbage between the pipes for the Isles. Laurie Boschman had a hat trick, Bob Kudelski racked up three points and as was often the case, Darcy Loewen and Mike Peluso both dropped the gloves.
So, as you watch the 2018/2019 Ottawa Senators stumble a bit away from home, know that it can always get worse.
The Senators continue their three game road trip with a game against the Detroit Red Wings in the brand new Pizza Pizza Palace.
To say that Ottawa has had a hard time on the road this season would be a bit of an understatement. They’ve gone 3-10-1 which has them tied with the Devils for dead last in road wins. They’ve lost six of their last seven as the visitor and the one win was the dramatic third period comeback against the Philadelphia Flyers. A game they mostly had no business winning.
That’s why this Friday/Saturday back to back looks especially daunting. Tonight against the Red Wings and then tomorrow in Montreal. Big games though if they want to keep pace in the Atlantic Division.
I guess what I’m saying is can somebody track down Peter and Laurie because we could really use a win tonight.
The Red Wings come into this one having mostly alternated wins and losses throughout the month of December. Their last game was a 6-2 loss at the hands of the Washington Capital.
Filip Zadina was held off the scoresheet that night but as the Senators know all too well, there is always a chance Zadina fills their net with pucks so they’ll have to keep a close eye on him tonight. He’ll start the game about two hours west in Grand Rapids but with his speed, he can close that gap in a hurry.
Sounds like there could be some good news on the injury front. Bobby Ryan joined the team for practice yesterday and it seems like there’s a good chance he plays. Meanwhile Matt Duchene is apparently progressing well and could be back in the line up as early as next week. Drake Batherson didn’t seem to have a home on a regular line during yesterday’s twirl but Boucher said he’ll still play. Sounds like 11/7 is a possibility.
Game Day skate is set for 11:30 AM so we’ll find out then. In the meantime, let’s just assume that Tom Pyatt is playing on every line and possibly wearing the A.
A best guess at the line up for now.
Tkachuk-White-Stone
Boedker-Tierney-Ryan
Dzingel-Smith-Paajarvi
McCormick-Paul-Pyatt/Batherson
Chabot-Harpur
Lajoie-Ceci
Falk-Elliot
Craig Anderson is expected to get the start for Ottawa. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:38 PM.
The game is available on TSN5, RDS and based on everything I know about technology can also be streamed via the interweb or is possibly in a cloud somewhere.
Now, with the holiday season upon, let’s gather round the SensChirp Table and awkwardly discuss what we’ve been doing lately.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 13-15-4 (30 pts) | 14-14-4 (32 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.31 (9th) | 2.84 (T-20th) |
| Goals Against | 3.91 (31st) | 3.25 (22nd) |
| Power Play | 21.8% (13th) | 17.6% (20th) |
| Penalty Kill | 72.8% (30th) | 78.0 (20th) |
| Shots For | 29.4 (24th) | 28.9 (26th) |
| Shots Against | 38.2 (31st) | 34.1 (29th) |
| Leading Scorers | Stone- 35 pts Duchene- 34 pts Chabot- 33 pts |
Larkin- 30 pts Nyquist- 29 pts Athanasiou- 19 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Craig Anderson 12-12-3 3.56 GAA, .907 sv% |
Jimmy Howard 10-6-4 2.67 GAA, .923 sv%, |
