A packed house on a Saturday night, a local kid making his hometown debut, a local veteran celebrating his 1000th game and all sorts of playoff implications.
It’s just a big ol’ game of hockey and the question everyone has been asking is, who wants it?!
The Ottawa Senators host the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Tonight’s opponent finds themselves in a similar spot as the Senators have been the last few years. Playing out the string primarily and sneaking up on unsuspecting opponents that make the mistake of taking them lightly. They dropped a 4-2 decision to the Kraken on home ice last night but in the last four weeks, they have wins over the Stars, Oilers and Sabres. Plenty of talent on this roster and they’ll make you pay if you think it’s going to be a walk in the park.
DJ Smith has his team on the ice for the morning skate and it looks like they’ll make one change on the blueline. Nick Holden is skating as the extra today with Erik Brannstrom moving into that spot alongside Jakob Chychrun. It’s worth pointing out that there were a handful of drills there Thomas Chabot and Jakob Chychrun skated together while Brannstrom was paired with Artem Zub. So there could be some mixing and matching tonight.
Patrick Brown is on the ice but as the 13th forward. Here’s how they lined up this morning.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Pinto-Batherson
Joseph-Gambrell-Gauthier
Brassard-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
Chychrun-Brannstrom
Cam Talbot appears to be the starter for the good guys.
The game is televised and on the radio and on shady internet streams all across the world wide web but if you really want to experience it, put on your finest pair of snowshoes and shuffle your way down to the Canadian Tire Centre. See ya there!
Are you a busy hockey fan with important business on the go but also wondering how the Blue Jackets and Senators match-up in a random assortment of hockey-related stats? Are you a fan of rows and columns as a means to sort and then ultimately absorb information?
Well then you’re gonna love the hell out of the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 20-36-6 (46 pts) | 31-26-4 (66 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.58 (30th) | 3.15 (15th) |
| Goals Against | 3.68 (30th) | 3.13 (16th) |
| Power Play | 17.0% (28th) | 25.1% (3rd) |
| Penalty Kill | 76.3% (21st) | 83.0% (6th) |
| Shots For | 29.2 (26th) | 33.2 (8th) |
| Shots Against | 35.1 (30th) | 31.9 (21st) |
| Leading Scorers | Gaudreau- 55 pts Laine- 41 pts Jenner- 36 pts Roslovic- 34 pts Johnson- 29 pts |
Tkachuk- 65 pts Stutzle- 64 pts Giroux- 63 pts DeBrincat- 53 pts Batherson- 51 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Michael Hutchinson 0-0-0 -.- – GAA, .—sv% |
Cam Talbot 14-14-1 2.88 GAA, .905 sv% |
