We’re all frustrated.
After 21 months of hearing about COVID-19 and everything that comes with it, it’s pretty clear that we’ve all hit our breaking point. Some of us, long ago. Whether you’ve lost someone you loved, spent time fighting this thing on the front-lines or are simply trying to navigate the chaos and confusion that comes with a global pandemic, it impacts all of us.
And now, with the holiday season here and the next round of the endless fight underway, it’s understandable that tensions will be high. In every part of your life obviously but also here, in our strange little corner of the internet.
I get it.
But what I’m asking, and just this once, is that we go easy on each other the next few weeks. In an online community like this, it can be easy to forget about the people behind the screen names. I know not everyone in this place comes at this particular topic from the same starting point and that’s fine. Those differences in opinion are what keep the comment section going. But I also know that every single person that visits this site is dealing with their own unique circumstances and their own challenges. Both because of this pandemic and because, well that’s how life works. And all I ask, is that every once and awhile, we take a second to remind ourselves of that fact.
Argue. Debate. Disagree. That’s all good stuff. But also, be respectful. In those heated moments, remember, we’re all just people trying to navigate a strange world.
This is a hockey website. That’s why we’re all here. Go Sens Go and all that. But I also know that in the last few years, it has become so much more than that for a lot of people. It’s a community. Let’s remember that.
The Ottawa Senators wrap up their three-game road trip with a stop in the City of Brotherly Love.
The aforementioned chaos and confusion of the last week or so has avoided the Senators to this point but it does feel like the walls are closing in a little bit. Sunday’s opponent, the Boston Bruins, has cancelled their game tonight and it sounds like the league is looking closely at the possibility of postponing that Sunday game too.
The league is clearly doing everything they can to avoid a full league-wide pause but considering the way the last few days have gone, that option has to be on the table.
Which again, is a reminder that we should enjoy these games while we can. And with the way the Senators have played lately, it’s pretty easy to enjoy.
They came up short on Thursday night in Tampa Bay but they were in that game till the final horn. And if not for some highlight reel stops by Andrei Andreyevich Vasilevskiy and some general incompetence by the referees, that game ends differently. If they can put together another effort like that tonight and they’ll be just fine.
Late last night, the Senators announced that defenceman Nikita Zaitsev has been placed on IR. The team has yet to give an official update on his status but it certainly sounds like he’ll be out for an extended period of time. An excellent chance for Jacob Bernard-Docker to show what he can do.
Game day skate is scheduled for 11:30 AM so we’ll find out more about the lineup then. Here’s a best guess for now.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Formenton-Stützle-Brown
Sanford-Tierney-Ennis
Paul-Gambrell-Watson
Chabot-Bernard-Docker
Holden-Zub
Heatherington-Mete
Anton Forsberg starts.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM. The game is available on Sportsnet One which means we’ll get some sort of split screen, half Sens game and half iso-cam on whatever the fuck Auston Matthews is doing. The game is also available on TSN1200 and streams are likely to be available a little closer to game time.
I know what you’re thinking- SensChirp….this is a wonderful collection of words and you are a generally fantastic person but how can I really be sure how these two teams match-up.
And to that I say, it’s table time.
Oops. Okay NOW it’s table time.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-17-1 (19 pts) | 11-12-5 (27 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.78 (19th) | 2.61 (25th) |
| Goals Against | 3.59 (31st) | 3.18 (22nd) |
| Power Play | 20.0% (T-12th) | 16.3% (T-26th) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.3% (25th) | 81.3% (12th) |
| Shots For | 28.7 (28th) | 31.3 (18th) |
| Shots Against | 33.5 (29th) | 34.7 (31st) |
| Leading Scorers | Batherson- 28 pts Norris- 22 pts Tkachuk- 22 pts Chabot- 17 pts Brown- 16 pts |
Giroux- 24 pts Atkinson- 19 pts Couturier- 16 pts Konecny- 15 pts Brassard- 11 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Anton Forsberg 6-5-0 3.09 GAA, .909 sv% |
Martin Jones 4-4-1 3.37 GAA, .908 sv% |
| In Session | Yes | No |
