Expectations.
That’s the funny thing about sports. It’s a little bit different in every city but ultimately expectations are what drives a lot of the discourse around a particular team. And there’s a lot of factors that play into it. The roster is the the most important element obviously but it can be skewed a little bit by factors outside of the actual construction of the lineup. Comments from management, coverage in the media and fan perception all play into it. So do the realities of the season. Injuries and, in the case of this year, COVID obviously play into it, too.
But, at the end of the day, those early expectations often influence how a season is perceived. Only one team really succeeds each season but success or failure is really just based on what you thought the team was capable of.
Enter the Ottawa Senators. When the final horn sounds in Philadelphia a week from now, the Sens will miss the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season. It will officially be the longest playoff drought in the history of the young franchise. They’ll probably sit 26th overall in the league standings with a pts% that is pretty close to identical to the last three seasons. That’s a failure, right?
Well, that really depends on what you were expecting and where you thought this team was at in their rebuild. And, what you thought were the real priorities heading into this season. Realistically, this year was mostly about establishing and strengthening the team culture and most importantly, about the development of the team’s most important players. And, in those two areas anyway, this season has been a resounding success.
The Ottawa Senators continue to wind down the 2021/2022 campaign with a stop in Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets.
One potential change to the Ottawa lineup as Tim Stützle is a game-time decision. He was on the wrong end of a couple hits- one, a blatant and yet uncalled penalty against the Vancouver Canucks. He’s obviously still dealing with the lingering effects.
No game day skate so we’ll have to wait until puck drop to find out who’s in and who’s out. A best guess for now.
Tkachuk-Norris-Brown
Formenton-Stützle-Batherson
Gaudette-Tierney-Senyshyn
Kelly-Gambrell-Watson
Del Zotto-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Zub
Holden-Zaitsev
Filip Gustavsson gets the start for Ottawa.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM in Columbus. The game is available on televisions, radios and streaming devices all across the land. You can also head down to Columbus and watch as that stupid cannon sits there quietly the whole damn night while the Senators run up the score!
Here’s a closer look at this evening’s match-up via something I’m calling the HEAD2HEAD table. It’s a fabulous collection of rows and columns and numbers that all blend together in the most majestic way possible.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 29-41-7 (65 pts) | 35-36-6 (76 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.70 (26th) | 3.10 (13th) |
| Goals Against | 3.23 (23rd) | 3.68 (29th) |
| Power Play | 19.5% (22nd) | 17.3% (24th) |
| Penalty Kill | 80.4% (13th) | 78.7% (19th) |
| Shots For | 30.1 (20th) | 30.0 (21st) |
| Shots Against | 33.2 (24th) | 35.3 (31st) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 60 pts Stützle- 53 pts Norris- 51 pts Batherson- 40 pts Brown- 39 pts |
Laine- 56 pts Voracek- 56 pts Bjorkstrand- 50 pts Nyquist- 48 pts Werenski- 47 pts |
| Starting Goalie | FIlip Gustavsson 4-11-1 3.71 GAA, .888 sv% |
Elvis Merzlinkins 25-21-6 3.32 GAA, .905 sv% |
