Okay, NOW they have this thing pointed in the right direction.
Sure there have been some hiccups – the blown lead against Columbus hurt and losing to the Leafs is always horrendous – but there is no doubt that the Ottawa Senators have been better lately. A lot has been made about the adjustments DJ Smith and his Staff made following that ugly loss to the Florida Panthers and the early results kind of speak for themselves.
Three wins in their last five games isn’t exactly setting the world on fire but they’ve just looked so much better over the last couple weeks. Fewer pucks being turned over in the offensive zone, a much tighter and at times 1-3-1 like approach in the neutral zone and a more positionally-sound team in their own end of the rink, which is in turn, leading to cleaner and more efficient breakouts. And it all came together in that Saturday night demolishing of the Detroit Red Wings, which was probably Ottawa’s best effort of the season to date.
They’ll look to keep it rolling when they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Just an optional Game Day skate for the Senators this morning but according to the Head Coach, they’ll go with the same look as last game.
Tkachuk-Norris-Giroux
Tarasenko-Stützle-Batherson
Kubalik-Greig-Joseph
Smejkal-Chartier-Kelly
Sanderson-Bernard Docker
Chychrun-Zub
Brannstrom-Hamonic
Joonas Korpisalo gets the start in goal for the Senators.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM at the CTC. The game is available on TSN5, on the radio at and on the internet at StreamThoseSens.org. Alternatively, you can grab some discounted tickets courtesy of your ol’ pal SensChirp right here and hop on The Senate Tavern bus and see this this thing in real life.
Wondering how these teams match-up but all find those big name Game Day tables lack that personal touch? Let the locally-sourced HEAD2HEAD table be your guide.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 14-12-1 (29 pts) | 11-11-0 (22 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.22 (15th) | 3.50 (6th) |
| Goals Against | 3.33 (22nd) | 3.18 (16th) |
| Power Play | 20.7% (15th) | 18.3% (21st) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.1% (19th) | 74.3% (28th) |
| Shots For | 34.3 (1st) | 33.2 (5th) |
| Shots Against | 25.0 (1st) | 30.2 (16th) |
| Leading Scorers | Aho-22 pts Jarvis-19 pts Necas-19 pts Teravainen-18 pts Bunting-17 pts |
Stutzle-26 pts Giroux-22 pts Batherson-19 pts Tarasenko-19 pts Tkachuk-19 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Antti Raanta 6-5-0 3.40 GAA, .860 sv% |
Joonas Korpisalo 6-6-0 3.22 GAA, .903 sv% |
