In all the excitement surrounding the acquisition of Dion Phaneuf, the Ottawa Senators seemingly forgot they still had some hockey games left to play.
The Sens laid a bit of an egg last night in Detroit. Disappointing when you consider the importance of that particular game as it relates to their flickering playoff hopes. Those games against teams ahead of you are ones you need to win and last night the Senators just weren’t good enough.
They’ll be looking for a bounce back performance tonight when they return home to take on Matt Duchene and the Colorado Avalanche.
It feels like I say it every time these two teams meet but this Colorado team cannot be underestimated. They’ve lost their last two games but are still holding on to that second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Their offence is led by the speedy Matt Duchene but they have a pretty dangerous supporting cast too, including Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog.
There are weaknesses on that blueline though and they can be exploited but only with a much better effort from Ottawa’s top players.
Tonight’s game kicks off a stretch of five games that will essentially determine whether or not this Ottawa team has any hopes of making the playoffs. After playing the Avs tonight, they are in Columbus on Saturday and then back home for three straight against the Sabres, Hurricanes and Red Wings. Ottawa pretty much has to find a way to win four of five. It’s not do-or-die just yet but it’s getting there in a hurry.
One change to the blueline as Patrick Wiericoch draws back in, taking the place of Chris Wideman. Dion Phaneuf makes his Canadian Tire Centre debut. I promise to yell far friendlier things to him than the last time he played in our rink. Here’s how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.
Hoffman-Turris-Ryan
Smith-Pageau-Stone
Prince-Zibanejad-Chiasson
Dzingel-Lazar-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Wiercioch-Borowiecki
Andrew Hammond gets the start for Ottawa. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
