Don’t look now but the Ottawa Senators are starting to heat up a little bit.
In three consecutive hockey matches, they have earned at least a point. It’s true. I looked it up. They beat the Calgary Flames before the break, they lost in a shootout to the Devils in their first game back and then they tuned up poor Duane’s Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
That’s three, folks. Count ’em up. Five of a possible six points.
Are the Senators set to embark on an improbable playoff run similar to what we saw from the St. Louis Blues last season? Will they ultimately march all the way to the Stanley Cup and finally bring that coveted trophy back to Canada? Back to the Nation’s Capital and the birthplace of hockey?
Absolutely not.
The Ottawa Senators host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre. Thousands and thousands of tickets still available.
The Washington Capitals are the best team in the league.
Coming into tonight’s action, they sit a comfortable 28 points clear of the Ottawa Senators. They’ve scored 44 more goals and have allowed 16 fewer. They’ve won nine of the last ten head to head. There are six players on the Caps roster that would be the leading scorer on the Senators.
What I’m saying is, don’t forget to stop at the beer store on your way home tonight.
Just an optional morning skate for the Senators today so I have no clue how they’ll line up.
Will Scott Sabourin play? Does Cody Goloubef still exist? Does the Hogburglar run continue tonight? Who/what is a Mikkel Boedker? These questions will remain unanswered. FOR NOW!
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Namestnikov-Tierney-Brown
Chlapik-Anisimov-Batherson
Ennis-White-Boedker/Sabourin
Chabot-Hainsey
Borowiecki-Zaitsev
Reilly-DeMelo
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM. The game is available on TSN5, RDS and And ANd AND.
Here’s the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 34-12-5 (73 pts) | 18-23-9 (45 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.57 (5th) | 2.76 (22nd) |
| Goals Against | 2.92 (12th) | 3.30 (T-27th) |
| Power Play | 20.5% (12th) | 14.4% (31st) |
| Penalty Kill | 84.3% (2nd) | 81.1% (15th) |
| Shots For | 32.2 (10th) | 30.1 (24th) |
| Shots Against | 29.8 (4th) | 33.5 (29th) |
| Leading Scorers | Carlson- 60 pts Ovechkin- 52 pts Kuznetsov- 43 pts |
Duclair- 33 pts Pageau- 32 pts Brown- 32 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Ilya Samsonov 15-2-1 2.07 GAA, .927 |
Marcus Hogberg 2-2-6 2.90 GAA, .912 |
