Expectations are a funny thing in sports.
Heading into this season, everyone expected the worst from the Ottawa Senators. So when they dropped the first three games of the regular season, experts and Sens fans alike were kind of like, ya that seems about right.
The last two seasons have been painful in the Nation’s Capital and if you looked at those first three games of the season from a distance, it might have just looked like more of the same.
It was about what we expected from this year’s version of the Senators.
But if you take a closer look, it’s pretty clear this isn’t the same team we saw over the last two seasons.
The energy level is higher. The structure is better. The buy-in from the players up and down the roster is noticeably different under DJ Smith. They just seem like a more cohesive group.
And it all came together for them on Saturday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning. That was by far the best game they have played this year and actually, it stands out as one of the best games they’ve played in the last couple years.
Will be interesting to see what they do for an encore against the Minnesota Wild.
It’s early but this Wild team has all the makings of a 31st overall team.
They’ve dropped the first four games of the regular season and are the last remaining team without a point. They’ve been outscored by a 21-10 margin and they’ve been giving up a league-high 5.25 goals per game.
The Senators had a well-deserved day off yesterday but it does sound like there will be some changes to their line up for this one. Vitaly Abramov was sent back to Belleville yesterday meaning Mikkel Boedker likely takes his spot in the line up.
Early puck drop today so no morning skate but a best guess at the line up for now.
Tkachuk-White-Ennis
Duclair-Tierney-Ryan
Namestnikov-Pageau-Brown
Boedker-Anisimov-Sabourin
Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Hainsey
Borowiecki-DeMelo
No official word on a starting goalie yet but would expect they’ll go back to Craig Anderson.
The game is available on TSN5, on the radio at TSN1200 and on streaming sites all across the information super highway.
Now let us give thanks for the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 0-4-0 (0 pts) | 1-3-0 (2 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.50 (22nd) | 3.00 (T-18th) |
| Goals Against | 5.25 (31st) | 4.25 (29th) |
| Power Play | 27.3% (9th) | 0.0% (28th) |
| Penalty Kill | 78.6% (T-15th) | 75.0% (T-21st) |
| Shots For | 32.0 (15th) | 30.3 (20th) |
| Shots Against | 32.8 (21st) | 32.5 (19th) |
| Leading Scorers | Hunt- 4 pts Suter- 3 pts Spurgeon- 3 pts |
Namestnikov- 4 pts Pageau- 4 pts Tkachuk- 3 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Devan Dubnyk 0-4-0 4.55 GAA, .862 sv% |
Craig Anderson 1-2-0 3.71 GAA, .882 sv% |
