They are a team to be respected. Feared, even.
Loaded with game-breaking offensive talent that is capable of busting a game wide open at any given moment. They are a team that commands respect from around the league. They keep opposing coaches up late at night. When they are at their best, they simply cannot be stopped.
And tonight, they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Ottawa Senators continue their road trip with a stop in Tampa Bay on Thursday night.
For those of you that are blissfully unaware of what is transpiring around the National Hockey League in the last week or so, I cannot stress enough how important it is to enjoy tonight’s game. While the NHL has made it clear that another “pause” is a last resort, it does feel like things are escalating over the last few days. And with Ontario announcing a return to 50% capacity, it feels like we’re headed down an all too familiar path.
All that to say, I am fairly comfortable labelling tonight’s game as the…BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR! Until the next one, anyway.
DJ Smith stopped short of confirming any lineup changes ahead of this one. Obviously some fans are clamoring for the insertion of Jacob Bernard-Docker at some point in the near future but it’s tough to mess with a lineup that is playing so well. Taking out one of Dillon Heatherington or Victor Mete is an option, obviously, but there’s really no rush here. JBD will get a chance soon.
We’ll assume that they’ll go with the same look for now, despite the fact that it will clearly derail JBD’s career.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Formenton-Stützle-Brown
Sanford-Tierney-Ennis
Paul-Gambrell-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Holden-Zub
Heatherington-Mete
No word on a starting goalie yet but you would assume the same idea expressed above, not wanting to mess with a good thing, applies between the pipes too.
Puck drop is scheduled for just a shade after 7:00 PM in Tampa Bay. The game is available on TSN5, RDS2 and on the radio at TSN1200. If you were hoping to find a stream, just think of Jason Spezza and ____________.
Here’s a closer look at how these two teams match-up via something I call the HEAD2HEAD table. Not to be confused with the HEAD-TO-HEAD table the Sens Twitter account has been rolling out lately. Often imitated, never duplicated- the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-16-1 (19 pts) | 18-6-4 (40 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.85 (18th) | 3.21 (10th) |
| Goals Against | 3.65 (32nd) | 2.64 (10th) |
| Power Play | 20.5% (11th) | 17.9% (20th) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.1% (25th) | 79.3% (21st) |
| Shots For | 28.8 (27th) | 29.4 (23rd) |
| Shots Against | 33.8 (30th) | 30.0 (7th) |
| Leading Scorers | Batherson- 28 pts Norris- 22 pts Tkachuk- 22 pts Brown- 16 pts Chabot- 16 pts |
Stamkos- 33 pts Hedman- 28 pts Killorn- 23 pts Palat- 18 pts Cirelli- 17 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
