The four game road trip through Pittsburgh, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim was without a doubt one of Ottawa’s toughest stretches of the season.
They stumbled home with a 1-3-0 record with their worst game of the trip coming on Sunday afternoon against the Ducks.
Waiting for them when they got home? The wrath of Guy Boucher.
The Senators Head Coach put his team through a tough practice yesterday, stopping on a number of occasions to drive home some issues that have been plaguing the the last little while. A Coach can only go to that well so many times but you would assume that after a tough road trip, the message was received loud and clear.
We’ll see how the Sens respond tonight against the San Jose Sharks.
These two teams met out West last week and while the Sharks carried the play for large stretches of the game, the Senators stole the two points on a late goal by Chris Kelly. You know the Sharks will be keen on a little redemption this time around.
The Sharks played last night in Toronto and despite starting slow, rallied for a shootout win. Don’t be surprised if the Sharks start back up Aaron Dell.
After a hard practice yesterday, you would hope the Senators can get a bit of a jump on the Sharks tonight.
Couple changes expected to the Ottawa line up including one up front and one on the back end. Curtis Lazar who suffered a concussion early last week is back and ready to play. On the blueline, Ben Harpur has been called up and will play. Chris Wideman is a game time decision but is expected to ready. If he can’t go, Andreas Englund will take his spot.
We’ll confirm this line up during the morning skate.
Hoffman-Brassard-Stone
Dzingel-Turris-Ryan
Smith-Pageau-Pyatt
Kelly-Lazar-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Harpur-Wideman
Mike Condon gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
If you’re headed to the game, be sure to get there a little bit earlier than usual as the Senators will celebrate Chris Neil hitting the 1000 game mark over the weekend. The ceremony will begin just after 7:00 PM.
