If you didn’t already hate the Montreal Canadiens with the fire of ten thousand burning suns, you almost certainly do now.
Tuesday night’s game was a healthy reminder of everything that makes the Habs so annoying.
Twelve identical undersized forwards, each somehow more obnoxious than the last. Fake tough guys like Max Domi jumping a rookie and then yapping the rest of the night with his gloves suddenly stuck to his hands. Their arrogant fans celebrating a regular season win like it was playoff time. That damn air horn they play after goals is still echoing through my head more than a day later.
According to their loyal followers, that win the other night has them locked into a playoff spot and they already making plans to flip and torch a few cop cars following another win tonight.
I just hate them so much.
The Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens face off again tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre.
If the first game of the home-and-home was the first “biggest game of the year” well then tonight’s can probably be labelled the first “must-win” of the season.
The Senators come into this one trailing the Habs by four points. That’s not an insurmountable gap by any stretch but to go from two points out of a playoff spot to six after this week would be pretty disappointing. Especially with the top three spots in the Atlantic so far out of reach. Ottawa sits 11 points back of the 3rd place Buffalo Sabres.
More than just the significance in the standings, I just really don’t want to lose to the Canadiens again. Ever again, actually. So yep, must win game.
Could be one change to the line up tonight as it sounds like Max Lajoie is close to returning. Justin Falk would likely be the one to come out. Mark Borowiecki is out again on defence. No changes expected up front although we’ll see if Boucher plans to stick with any of the line juggling from Tuesday night.
A best guess for now.
Dzingel-Duchene-Batherson
Tkachuk-White-Stone
Boedker-Tierney-Ryan
Pyatt-Smith-Paajarvi
Chabot-DeMelo
Harpur-Ceci
Lajoie/Falk-Jaros
Craig Anderson gets the start in goal for Ottawa. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
The game is available on TSN5, RDS and on the radio at TSN1200. Vous pouvez regarder le jeu en ligne en utilisant votre pamplemousse.
-The Senators pulled off a minor transaction late yesterday afternoon, picking up Tobias Lindberg and Stefan Elliott from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Ben Sexton and Macoy Erkamps. In a separate deal, they also sent minor league forward Ryan Scarfo to the Penguins for future considerations. The consensus reaction to these two deals was a resounding “Huh”. Lindberg was once a prospect of sorts with the Senators organization until he was flipped to Toronto in the Dion Phaneuf trade. He has never really been able to establish himself at the AHL level but at 23 years of age, there may still be a chance he pans out. In Elliott, the Senators are getting some much-needed defensive depth at the AHL level. He has 84 games of NHL experience under his belt too. Oh and he’s an Olympian! Overall, this deal mostly looks a minor league roster shuffle of sorts but a trade is a trade, as they say.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 13-10-5 (31 pts) | 12-13-3 (27 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.07 (14th) | 3.57 (5th) |
| Goals Against | 3.21 (T-20th) | 4.07 (31st) |
| Power Play | 14.6% (29th) | 22.5% (13th) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.1% (16th) | 70.7% (31st) |
| Shots For | 34.0 (14th) | 29.9 (23rd) |
| Shots Against | 31.1 (11th) | 38.0 (31st) |
| Leading Scorers | Domi- 30 pts Drouin- 25 pts Tatar- 22 pts |
Duchene- 34 pts Chabot- 31 pts Stone- 30 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Carey Price 9-8-4 3.00 GAA, .899 sv% |
Craig Anderson 11-10-3 3.68 GAA, .904 sv% |
