(UPDATE 4:30 PM)- Line up news ahead of tonight’s game. Tyler Ennis is sitting for precautionary reasons which means a trade is close. The Edmonton Oilers have been a team linked to Ennis in the last few days.
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to remember that there are actual hockey games still left to be played in the season.
The minds of Sens fans have started to drift a little bit lately. To the trade deadline. To the draft lottery. And to the entry draft in June. There are better days ahead for the Ottawa Senators but there are also like 50 more days of unpleasantness to navigate first.
And it doesn’t get much more unpleasant than a home game against the Montreal Canadiens.
See, the Montreal Canadiens are a proud franchise.
Overrated, generally directionless, oddly short and without any real accomplishments in the last 25 years but so very proud. And their fans are passionate. Terribly obnoxious, somehow arrogant and mostly oblivious but oh so passionate.
It’s easy to see why they are one of the most storied franchises in the sport. Of course most of the stories are 60 years old but there sure are a lot of them.
The Habs come into tonight’s game sitting nine points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. About to miss the playoffs for a third straight season. The good news is they have Carey Price locked up for another decade or so. Plenty of time to turn things around.
We’ll be right back after these messages.
After a solid five months of setting the AHL ablaze, Josh Norris makes his long awaited NHL debut.
Norris has been the best player in Belleville for most of the season, racking up a ridiculous 30 goals and 58 points in just 51 games. He’s the runaway leader in rookie scoring and at the time of his call-up, he was just three points off the league-lead in points.
Expectations for Norris were high coming into this season but it’s safe to say he has been better than any of us could have imagined during his first pro season. The AHL can be a tough league for a young player but Norris hit the ground running and made the transition to pro hockey look fairly routine.
A well-deserved call-up for a player that has quickly become one of the most exciting prospects in the system.
Last minute line up changes are possible for the Senators tonight with so many players on the trade block. Vladislav Namestnikov will sit for a second straight game. DJ Smith mentioned that some other guys may sit too depending on trade talks throughout the day. Eeep.
Here’s how they lined up at yesterday’s practice.
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Paul-Norris-Batherson
Anisimov-Tierney-Brown
Sabourin-White-Hawryluk
Chabot-Hainsey
Reilly-Zaitsev
Englund-Jaros
No word on a starting goalie yet.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM. The game is available on CityTV, Sportsnet One, TVA or for the masochists among us, you can go sit in a building surrounded by 15,000 Habs fans.
A closer look at tonight’s match-up.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 28-27-8 (64 pts) | 21-29-11 (53 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.97 (18th) | 2.69 (23rd) |
| Goals Against | 3.08 (T-17th) | 3.34 (T-28th) |
| Power Play | 19.5% (19th) | 15.1% (28th) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.3% (20th) | 77.8% (22nd) |
| Shots For | 34.1 (2nd) | 30.3 (24th) |
| Shots Against | 31.2 (15th) | 33.5 (29th) |
| Leading Scorers | Tatar- 55 pts Danault- 41 pts Suzuki- 40 pts |
Pageau- 40 pts Tkachuk- 38 pts Duclair- 37 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Carey Price $15,000,000 8 years/$84 million |
TBD |
