It has been nine long days since we last saw the Ottawa Senators.
The league-mandated bye week combined with the All Star break made for an unusually long mid-season hiatus. While it was nice to have the Belleville Senators to keep us occupied, it’s time to get back to business.
The business of awkwardly watching hockey games with no real concern over the result and in some cases, actively cheering against your favourite team that is.
FINALLY.
You will recall that the Ottawa Senators are in the midst of a less than impressive season. Through 48 games, they find themselves sitting in 28th overall.
Tonight, they take on one of the few teams below them in the standings- the New Jersey Devils.
For the tankers among us, this is as big as it gets.
There is going to be a lot of jostling for position over the next 34 games and the Devils are one of the few teams that have a legitimate shot at finishing lower than the Senators.
May the worst team lose, as the old saying goes.
The Sens were on the ice for practice yesterday but were missing a handful of guys. Brady Tkachuk and Anthony Duclair both had the day off after the weekend festivities. Both Filip Chlapik and Drake Batherson were recalled from Belleville but neither player practiced.
Jean Gabriel Pageau missed a couple games with a neck injury before the break but is expected to be back in the line up tonight.
Here’s how DJ Smith is expected to line ’em based on the combinations at the morning skate.
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Namestnikov-Tierney-Brown
Chlapik-Anisimov-Batherson
Ennis-White-Boedker
Chabot- Hainsey
Borowiecki-Zaitsev
Reilly-DeMelo
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM with the game available on TSN5, RDS2 and on the radio at TSN1200.
Oh- uhh Alex Formenton is the fastest man alive.
Anyway, here’s a closer look at tonight’s match-up. Spoiler alert- it ain’t pretty.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 17-24-7 (41 pts) | 17-23-8 (42 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.58 (26th) | 2.71 (T-23rd) |
| Goals Against | 3.52 (30th) | 3.33 (29th) |
| Power Play | 13.9% (30th) | 12.2% (31st) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.8% (17th) | 81.3% (15th) |
| Shots For | 31.4 (17th) | 29.8 (25th) |
| Shots Against | 31.7 (19th) | 33.2 (29th) |
| Leading Scorers | Palmieri- 31 pts Hischier- 29 pts Gusev- 28 pts Coleman- 27 pts Vatanen- 22 pts |
Duclair- 33 pts Pageau- 31 pts Brown- 31 pts Tkachuk- 27 pts Chabot- 27 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Mackenzie Blackwood 14-12-6 2.96 GAA, .905 sv% |
Marcus Hogberg 2-2-5 2.91 GAA, .907 sv% |
