The trip to Florida could not have gone much worse for the Ottawa Senators.
I mean, I’m sure the weather was nice and that game of ultimate frisbee on the beach was a hoot but on the ice, it was a complete disaster. They played their worst game of the season on Friday against the Panthers and lost by three the next night in Tampa Bay.
Things certainly don’t get an easier for the slumping Senators as they get set to visit John Tavares and the powerhouse New York Islanders.
Typing that still feels a little strange but the Islanders really have been that good this season. Their 17-7-0 record has them sitting second in the Eastern Conference, just two points back of the Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. They’ve won 8 of their last 10 and have an impressive 9-2-0 record on home ice. They can score goals (6th in the NHL) and lots of ‘em. Not surprisingly, John Tavares leads the way offensively with 23 points in 24 games. If they have a weakness, it’s their penalty kill which comes into tonight ranked 29th in the league.
More line juggling ahead of this one as Alex Chiasson comes off the top line and Mark Stone takes his place. Zack Smith will draw back in for the Senators while Colin Greening returns to the pressbox. Bobby Ryan was on the ice again today but isn’t expected to play. Erik Karlsson missed the morning skate but will play.
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Craig Anderson starts for Ottawa. Jaroslav Halak gets the call for the Islanders. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM with the game available on TSN5 and RDS.
-Eugene Melnyk made an appearance on Toronto radio yesterday afternoon and as usual, had plenty of interesting things to say. Three things in particular stood out- Paul MacLean’s job does not sound overly secure. The Senators had serious conversations about signing Daniel Alfredsson as an unrestricted free agent this summer (Can you imagine?!). And lastly, the organization has started to discuss succession planning for the team’s management group. The full interview is worth a listen. It starts at 33:00.
-After tonight, the focus will officially shift to Daniel Alfredsson’s return/retirement. Really sounds like the Senators plan to pull out all the stops with this ceremony. The one day contract is going to be a part of it as is Alfie’s participation in the pregame warm up. Also sounds like there could be some former teammates in town for the announcement. This really is going to be a special day in Ottawa sports history.
