They came up a goal short on Monday night but that was an effort the Ottawa Senators can be proud of.
Unlike some of the early-season debacles in Edmonton, the Senators were right there until the final buzzer. In fact, they took it the Oilers for most of the third period and probably deserved a better fate. Unfortunately, that’s not really how hockey works. You don’t always get the result you deserve.
The Senators will look for their first win of the season against the Oilers on Wednesday night.
Ottawa has dropped five straight games against Edmonton and while the last few games have been far more competitive, including the last two which were decided by a single goal, the Senators want to finally end up on the winning end of one of these match-ups.
There has been plenty of juggling among the forwards in the last few games including in-game adjustments, as the Head Coach looks for chemistry up front. After a few games playing in what was a more defensive role with Chris Tierney and Connor Brown, Brady Tkachuk gets a look on the team’s top line with Josh Norris and Drake Batherson.
That line is going to be a handful for the Oilers tonight.
Meanwhile, Tim Stützle gets a turn on the team’s second line with Colin White and Evgenii Dadonov. Tough to take Nick Paul off of that line but will be interesting to see if it sparks some additional offence for that trio.
No changes expected on the blueline which means another game in the pressbox for the soon to be 26-year old Christian Wolanin. With Mike Reilly and Artem Zub playing well together and Erik Brannstrom having one of his best games of the season on Monday night, it’s kind of tough to make any changes back there right now.
Here’s how DJ Smith had his players lined up at the game day skate in Edmonton.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Stützle-White-Dadonov
Dzingel-Tierney-C. Brown
Paul-Anisimov-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Reilly-Zub
Brannstrom-Gudbranson
No word on a starting goalie yet so let’s put it to a vote.
Loading …Puck drop is scheduled for 8:08 PM which means we’ll all get to bed at a far more reasonable hour. The game is available on Sportsnet which means we can expect a split-screen broadcast of the game and whatever it is Auston Matthews is doing on his off-day. TSN1200 has a radio call. The internet has the grainy stream beneath a pile of infuriating pop ups and video ads. Actually, video ads aren’t so bad once you get to know them.
Here’s a closer look at this evening’s match-up.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-18-1 (19 pts) | 16-11-0 (32 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.64 (T-24th) | 3.19 (9th) |
| Goals Against | 3.86 (31st) | 3.04 (T-16th) |
| Power Play | 14.4% (27th) | 25.6% (10th) |
| Penalty Kill | 74.7% (23rd) | 76.5% (21st) |
| Shots For | 32.0 (4th) | 31.0 (18th) |
| Shots Against | 31.7 (26th) | 32.0 (28th) |
| Leading Scorers | Chabot- 19 pts Tkachuk- 18 pts Batherson- 18 pts Norris- 15 pts Stützle- 15 pts |
McDavid- 45 pts Draisaitl- 37 pts RNH- 20 pts Barrie- 19 pts Nurse- 17 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
