To say that the Ottawa Senators have been inconsistent this year would be an understatement.
In some games, they look the part of the bottom-feeder everyone assumed they would be. Like the Florida game for example.
But then there are nights when they look like a team that could seriously contend for a playoff spot, like their recent wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings.
We’ll see which team shows up tonight when they play host to the surprisingly terrible Pittsburgh Penguins.
You see the thing about the Penguins is I hate them.
Anytime there’s a conversation about Ottawa’s most hated rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens are usually the first two teams mentioned. Not sure about the rest of you but just looking at the Penguins logo angers me.
It’s partly because their roster is filled with guys that are just so easy to hate. Guys like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, for starters. Elite players obviously but just obnoxious as all hell.
And while Crosby is expected to miss tonight’s game, his mere presence on the roster means that Penguins will almost certainly receive favourable officiating tonight. That’s just the way it works when you go head to head against Gary’s Penguins.
Okay, okay. Enough about them.
The Senators were on the ice for practice yesterday and were without a few key guys. Thomas Chabot, Craig Anderson and Colin White missed the skate although according to Boucher, it sounds like all three will be good to go tonight.
Game Day skate at 10:30 AM so we’ll confirm the line up then. A best guess for now.
Boedker-Duchene-Batherson
Tkachuk-White-Stone
Dzingel-Tierney-Ryan
Pyat-Smith-Paajarvi
Chabot-DeMelo
Lajoie-Ceci
Borowiecki-Wideman
Craig Anderson gets the start in goal for Ottawa. Puck shall drop just after 7:00 PM.
Tonight’s game is available on Sportsnet SHH which can be accessed by mashing the mute button on your remote. Or you can listen to the soothing sounds of Dean Brown and Gord Wilson on TSN1200. Or you can just stream the damn thing for all I care.
And now, the SensChirp table. This time featuring a HIDDEN message. Good luck trying to figure it out!
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 7-7-3 (17 pts) | 8-8-3 (19 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.29 (T-7th) | 3.37 (5th) |
| Goals Against | 3.12 (T-19th) | 4.05 (31st) |
| Power Play | 25.5% (8th) | 26.6% (6th) |
| Penalty Kill | 78.9% (18th) | 68.3% (31st) |
| Shots For | 32.5 (10th) | 30.0 (24th) |
| Shots Against | 33.2 (26th) | 38.5 (31st) |
| Leading Scorers | Malkin- 23 pts Kessel- 21 pts Crosby- 19 pts |
Chabot- 22 pts Stone- 21 pts Duchene- 21 pts |
| Starting Goalies | Matt Murray 4-5-1 3.90 GAA, .883 sv% |
Craig Anderson 8-5-3 3.53 GAA, .909 sv% |
| Score Prediction | 4 | 6 |
