One thing is obvious after this most recent five-game homestand- the Ottawa Senators are no pushovers.
Lazy journalists around the league may still think of the Senators as an “easy game” but the opposition certainly doesn’t feel that way. Not anymore. The Sens put up a 4-1-0 record over the last nine days at the CTC and in the process, sent a pretty clear message that they hang with anyone in this division.
They’ll look to keep it rolling as they pay a visit to the smoldering tire fire that is the Montreal Canadiens.
Ottawa will play their next six games on the road. After tonight’s stop in Montreal, they head West for two more games against the Calgary Flames followed by three straight against the Edmonton Oilers.
While the Senators have been much better of late, there’s still plenty of ground to make up. Three points back of the Canucks, five back of the Flames and six back of tonight’s opponent. And because Ottawa has played four more games than the Canadiens, this is as big a game as the Sens have played this season.
In fact, it’s pretty safe to call this one…
THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR.
Some roster shuffling from the Senators this afternoon suggests they’ll have a slightly different look against the Canadiens. In addition to confirming that Derek Stepan will have shoulder surgery and is done for the year, the Senators also made some changes to their active roster.
Erik Brannstrom takes Braydon Coburn’s spot while Micheal Haley comes in for Matthew Peca. We’ll see how DJ lines ’em later tonight. If last game is any indication, there will likely be shuffling throughout the game too.
Tkachuk-Norris-Brown
Paul-White-Dadonov
Stützle-Tierney-Batherson
Haley-Anisimov-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Reilly-Zub
Brannstrom-Gudbranson
Joey Daccord gets the start in goal.
Puck drop can be expected at precisely eight minutes past the hour unless the Canadiens schedule a ceremony of some sort, in which case you might want to find something else to do until like 8:30 PM. The game will be broadcast on TSN2, TSN5, RDS and TSN 1200. The illegal internet streams will flow like water.
Here is a HEAD2HEAD table, specifically crafted to both inform and entertain. I am embarrassed to admit how long it took me to produce this table. About 3 minutes including 30 seconds trying to decide whether or not to use the Habs toilet seat logo.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 8-15-1 (17 pts) | 9-6-5 (23 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.71 (21st) | 3.25 (7th) |
| Goals Against | 3.83 (31st) | 2.90 (16th) |
| Power Play | 15.5% (25th) | 18.6% (19th) |
| Penalty Kill | 75.0% (23rd) | 75.9% (22nd) |
| Shots For | 32.8 (3rd) | 33.8 (2nd) |
| Shots Against | 31.4 (22nd) | 29.1 (9th) |
| Leading Scorers | Batherson- 17 pts Tkachuk- 16 pts Chabot- 15 pts Stützle- 14 pts Norris- 13 pts |
Petry- 18 pts Toffoli- 17 pts Suzuki- 14 pts Drouin- 13 pts Anderson- 12 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Joey Daccord 0-0-0 0.00 GAA, 1.000 sv% |
Scarey Price 5-4-3 3.13 GAA, .888 sv% |
