At some point in the not too distant future, I may accept that these are no longer meaningful games. But we ain’t there just yet.
The Ottawa Senators return home to host one of the teams just ahead of them in the standings. And given the general proximity of this team in the standings and the fact that the Sens need to win just about every game they have left we can pretty safely call this…
THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR. Certainly the biggest one of the night, anyway.
Could be one change to the Ottawa lineup as Mathieu Joseph is being called a game-time decision. He took a regular spot in the game day skate though so it certainly seems like he’s ready.
Tyler Kleven won’t play tonight and according to DJ Smith, he could make his debut on Thursday night.
A best guess at the lineup based on the morning twirl.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Pinto-Batherson
Brassard-Gambrell-Joseph
Brown-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden
Mads Søgaard is expected to get the start.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM. The game is available on many television stations, one radio station and a whole buncha shady internet sites.
Here’s the HEAD2HEAD table, presented to YOU, free of charge.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 36-30-7 (79 pts) | 35-33-5 (75 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.47 (6th) | 3.14 (20th) |
| Goals Against | 3.42 (23rd) | 3.25 (19th) |
| Power Play | 22.4% (9th) | 23.9% (7th) |
| Penalty Kill | 74.8% (28th) | 82.1% (8th) |
| Shots For | 36.9 (1st) | 33.2 (7th) |
| Shots Against | 31.7 (21st) | 31.9 (23rd) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 97 pts Barkov- 66 pts Verhaeghe- 66 pts Montour- 61 pts Reinhart- 54 pts |
Stützle- 81 pts Tkachuk- 75 pts Giroux- 70 pts DeBrincat- 59 pts Batherson- 57 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Sergei Bobrovsky 24-19-3 3.05 GAA, .902 sv% |
Mads Sogaard 6-5-2 3.27 GAA, .890 sv% |
