Game Day- Senators Host High-Flying Lightning

SensChirp October 22, 2016 1,498
Game Day- Senators Host High-Flying Lightning

It’s been three long, long days since we last saw the Ottawa Senators.

The team and its Coaching Staff have used that time to relax a little bit. Reflect on the highlights from their 3-1-0 start and give themselves a well-deserved pat on the back.

Or…wait…

The early season break was a good time for the team to work on some of the issues from the first four games. They had two hard practices and should be a motivated group when they take the ice at the CTC tonight.

Tonight’s opposition is considered to be (at least heading into the season) one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.  The Tampa Bay Lightning lost in the Stanley Cup Finals two seasons ago and last year lost to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the East Final.  They have a talented group of forwards and a defence core that can skate and move the puck well. And their goalie is really tall.

After briefly experimenting with the 11/7 alignment, Guy Boucher will return to the more traditional 12 forwards and 6 defenceman.

That means that Thomas Chabot comes out of the line up while Phil Varone draws back in up front.  Varone will start the game on a fourth line with Ryan Dzingel and Chris Neil, although as we’ve seen from Boucher in the early going, expect those combinations to change throughout the game.

Here’s how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.

Hoffman-Turris-Stone
Smith-Brassard-Ryan
Pyatt-Kelly-Pageau
Dzingel-Varone-Neil

Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman

Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.

There are still plenty left for tonight’s game for those of you that are into watching NHL hockey on a Saturday night.

-Pierre Dorion travelled to Albany last night to check up on the Binghamton Senators and get a look at Curtis Lazar.  Lazar did not disappoint, scoring once in the third period to tie the game and again in the shootout.  Conditioning is going to be an issue for Lazar as he tries to get up to speed after missing all of training camp but it certainly looks like he’s on the right track.

-I’ve mentioned it a couple times on Twitter but the good folks at ManMade Art are running an initiative where 15% of all sales between now and November 5th will be donated to the SensFoundation as part of HockeyFightsCancer. For those of you that haven’t checked out ManMade Art in the past, this is definitely a good time to start! Their website is here. 

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