There is no sugar-coating it, folks.
When the Ottawa Senators visit the Anaheim Ducks tonight at the Honda Centre, it will be a battle of two of the suckiest teams that have ever sucked.
In one corner, you have the Sens. Losers of eight straight. Ottawa has been outscored by a 37-19 margin during this recent slide. That is 4.6 goals against per game. That…that is not very good.
It’s a run of futility only matched by their opposition. You see, the not so Mighty Ducks come armed with an eight game losing streak of their own. They have given up 27 goals over that stretch and have scored just 11 times. As in 1.3 goals per games. Woof.
Let tonight serve as a reminder that when it comes to professional sports, glory is fleeting.
One moment you find yourself going head to head in the Stanley Cup Finals. Snoop Dog is there. And then in the blink of an eye, you are the laughing stock of the league. One season your team is within a goal of the Stanley Cup Finals and two years later, you’re looking ahead to the 2020 draft class. In January. In fucking 2019.
Senators. Ducks. In the Tostitos “Something’s Gotta Give” Bowl.
Yesterday, we learned that the already struggling Senators will be without their top centre for the duration of the upcoming road trip. Matt Duchene did not join the team on this Western swing as he and his wife Ashley await the birth of their first child.
Sounds like the plan is to have Jean-Gabriel Pageau step into that role for the time being. And why the hell not? He’s been humming along at a goal a game pace all damn season.
Darren Archibald is the odd man out. The team’s fastest skater and hardest shot take, Nick Paul, will draw back into the line up. Christian Wolanin will watch this one from the press box.
Guy Boucher plans on going 12/6 which follows a league-wide precedent that has existed for decades. Gotta shake things up.
Game Day skate goes early this afternoon but here’s a best guess at the line up for now.
Tkachuk-White-Stone
Dzingel-Pageau-Ryan
Balcers-Tierney-Boedker
Paul-Smith-Paajarvi
Harpur-DeMelo
Lajoie-Ceci
Borowiecki-Jaros
Anders Nilsson starts for Ottawa. Puck drop is tomorrow.
The game is available on television, on radio and on internet-enabled devices. Find it for yourself, damn it!
Sorry. That was rude. Please accept this table as my apology.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 15-23-5 (35 pts) | 19-17-7 (45 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.16 (10th) | 2.35 (30th) |
| Goals Against | 4.00 (31st) | 2.91 (15th) |
| Power Play | 21.4% (11th) | 14.9% (27th) |
| Penalty Kill | 73.8% (31st) | 80.5% (14th) |
| Shots For | 29.1 (25th) | 27.9 (31st) |
| Shots Against | 37.1 (31st) | 34.6 (29th) |
| Leading Scorers | Stone- 47 pts Duchene- 42 pts Chabot- 38 pts |
Getzlaf- 29 pts Henrique- 23 pts Rakell- 20 pts |
| Starting Goalies | Anders Nilsson 3-10-1 3.19, .890 sv% |
John Gibson 15-13-6 2.64 GAA, .923 sv% |
