There have been some truly dreadful regular season games in the long and storied rivalry between the Ottawa Senators and the New Jersey Devils.
Long gone are the days of the boring, trapping Devils yet when these teams get together, they seem to bring out the worst in each other.
According to Hockey Reference, the Senators have played the Devils a total of 96 times posting a record of 35-44-5-12. And of those 96 games, I feel pretty confident in saying I have not enjoyed any of them. 231 goals for, 257 against and not one of them has left any sort of last memory.
The Senators and Devils continue that proud tradition tonight at the Prudential Center in scenic Newark, New Jersey.
Both the Senators and Devils find themselves stuck at the bottom of the standings in the early going.
While the Senators are right where most expected them to be, the Devils early season struggles were harder to predict. With the off season additions of Jack Hughes, PK Subban and Wayne Simmonds and a health Hart Trophy winner in their line up, some had this Devils team pegged as one that could surprise in the Eastern Conference.
Yet through the first 16 games, they find themselves just one point clear of last in the NHL. They have a -19 goal differential. Only the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings are worse in that category.
They are coming off a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks their last time out though.
I don’t want to talk about the New Jersey Devils anymore.
On Ottawa’s side of things, they are coming off what was clearly one of their worst performances of the season. Carolina put them through the wringer on Monday night. It was a humbling loss after two pretty impressive wins over the Kings and Hurricanes.
It will be interesting to see how they bounce back in this one.
No game day skate this morning so the line up will remain a bit of a mystery until game time.
Rudolfs Balcers is back just in time for the holiday season and was assigned to Belleville yesterday. Logan Brown practiced in a regular jersey yesterday but he wasn’t on a particular line so it’s not clear whether he’ll suit up tonight.
Here’s how DJ had ’em lined up yesterday.
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Paul-White C. Brown
Namestnikov-Beaudin-Ryan
Chlapik-Tierney-Ennis
Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Hainsey
Borowiecki-DeMelo
No word on a starting goalie for this one so we’ll assume Damian Rhodes gets the nod. Ohhhhh! I just remembered a Sens/Devils regular season moment.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM, whether we like it or not. Sportsnet 360 has the broadcast.
HEAD2HEAD table, comin’ at ya.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 6-10-1 (13 pts) | 5-7-4 (14 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.76 (22nd) | 2.56 (T-27th) |
| Goals Against | 3.41 (24th) | 3.63 (29th) |
| Power Play | 6.6% (31st) | 13.6% (T-26th) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.4% (20th) | 74.1% (27th) |
| Shots For | 30.8 (19th) | 29.3 (25th) |
| Shots Against | 34.9 (29th) | 29.8 (6th) |
| Leading Scorers | Pageau- 12 pts Brown- 12 pts Tkachuk- 11 pts |
Hall- 15 pts Palmieri- 11 pts Hughes- 9 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
