Webster’s Dictionary defines a Game as “a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other”. That same reputable dictionary goes on to define a Day as ” the time of light between one night and the next “.
Now that we know what the words mean, let’s cram ’em together and what do we get?
Game Day!
The Ottawa Senators return from a long and unnecessary and seemingly endless break when they host the truly repugnant Toronto Maple Leaves on Saturday night in Ottawa.
The Sens are hoping to pick up where they left off ten days ago in Detroit. In case you need a little memory refresh, Shane Pinto beat Alex DeBrincat to the net and scored the overtime winner as the Senators notched a second straight overtime win. See for yourself!
They’ll certainly need to shake off any and all rust if they want to reel off a quick 16-streak winning game.
The Senators have been on the ice for a couple practices in preparation for this one and in both instances, there was no sign of Jake Sanderson.
The team has yet to give an official update on his status but what we do know is he won’t play tonight. Ottawa’s next game is Tuesday against Columbus so perhaps he’s good to go in time for that one. Let us pray.
Sanderson’s absence opens up a spot for the now healthy Travis Hamonic. He’ll start on the third pairing with Erik Brannstrom.
Here’s how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Joseph-Stutzle-Giroux
Greig-Pinto-Tarasenko
Kubalik-Kastelic-Kelly/MacEwen
Chabot-Zub
Chychrun-Bernard-Docker
Brannstrom-Hamonic
Joonas Korpisalo gets the start for the good guys.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM at the beautiful and conveniently located and not at all old or decrepit Canadian Tire Centre in the equally beautiful and equally conveniently located Kanata, Ontario. The game is available on Sportsnet and CBC which means a very high chance of throwing your remote through the television screen. TSN1200 has the radio coverage and our dear friend Bort is back and well-rested and ready to serve up a healthy dose of illegal internet streams for those are interested.
Wondering how these teams match up and in the market for a tidy collection of rows and columns with a dash of random hockey stats? Well have I got a HEAD2HEAD table for you.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 26-15-8 (60 pts) | 20-25-2 (42 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.45 (6th) | 3.34 (11th) |
| Goals Against | 3.18 (21st) | 3.62 (30th) |
| Power Play | 26.6% (4th) | 15.7% (23rd) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.7% (22nd) | 74.3% (28th) |
| Shots For | 33.1 (6th) | 32.7 (8th) |
| Shots Against | 30.5 (18th) | 30.4 (17th) |
| Leading Scorers | Nylander-65 pts Matthews-61 pts Marner-55 pts Rielly-42 pts Tavares-40 pts |
Stutzle-47 pts Giroux-42 pts Tkachuk-41 pts Batherson-38 pts Tarasenko-33 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Martin Jones 9-6-1 2.65 GAA, .911 sv% |
Joonas Korpisalo 12-16-2 3.38 GAA, .889 sv% |
