In the ever-expanding lore around Brady Tkachuk, there is this assumption that if the Ottawa Senators ever got to the playoffs with him as their Captain, he would be the type of player that could win a series on his own.
It’s easy to see why.
His unique combination of toughness and skill and leadership is what that time of year is all about. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that as the Sens adopted the idea of this two-game set against the Penguins being a mini-playoff series of sorts, the Captain took his game to another level. A career-high four-point night and another overtime winner in a game that Ottawa desperately needed to win.
We’ll see what he does for an encore in Game 2. The Ottawa Senators travel to Pittsburgh on Friday night.
One change to the lineup tonight as Mathieu Joseph draws back in after being a healthy scratch on Wednesday night. A brief aside on that by the way, because what played out on Wednesday morning was one of the most legendary overreactions from Sens Twitter in a long time.
While I understand the temptation to respond in real-time to certain decisions, you have to know that in many instances, you are doing so without all the relevant context. Which is fine, as long as you’re aware of that reality. In a situation like this, even though we still don’t know all the details, the most important thing is that the Coach and the player are on the same page. That Joseph understands why it happened and that the Coach communicates that clearly with the player. Fans and media knowing what’s going on in these circumstances just isn’t part of the equation, as frustrating as that may be. So freak out at your own discretion, I suppose.
Just an optional skate this morning so we’ll have to wait a few more hours to confirm who comes out to make room for Joseph.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Batherson
DeBrincat-Norris-Giroux
Brassard/Joseph-Pinto-Gambrell
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Bernard Docker
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden
Anton Forsberg took the optional skate which means…well I don’t really know what that means. He might start. Cam Talbot could start. Or they could give Tom Barrasso the nod against his former team.
Anyway, puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM in Pittsburgh. That awful air horn will sound shortly after but with any luck, someone will finally take me up on my offer and silence it for the rest of the night.
TSN5, RDS, TSN1200 and Bort are leading on on their respective mediums.
Wondering how these teams match up but simply cannot remember what happened on Wednesday night? Let the HEAD2HEAD table fill in the blanks.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 20-21-3 (43 pts) | 22-15-7 (51 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.95 (25th) | 3.23 (12th) |
| Goals Against | 3.25 (19th) | 3.07 (16th) |
| Power Play | 27.4% (3rd) | 20.9% (17th) |
| Penalty Kill | 81.5% (7th) | 81.5% (7th) |
| Shots For | 33.5 (6th) | 32.1 (13th) |
| Shots Against | 31.5 (18th) | 33.5 (26th) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 46 pts Stutzle- 42 pts Batherson- 40 pts DeBrincat- 39 pts Giroux- 39 pts |
Crosby- 52 pts Malkin- 44 pts Guentzel- 39 pts Rakell- 30 pts Zucker- 29 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
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