You do have to squint a little bit sometimes but there are definitely signs that the tide may be starting to turn for the Ottawa Senators.
Hidden within the heartbreak of Thursday’s overtime loss in Dallas was another point for the good guys. Two would have been better obviously and they aren’t exactly in a position where they can be throwing points away but the good news is they are starting to bank points with an increased frequency. At least one in five of their last seven and 9 outta 14 points over that stretch.
It’s not enough to dig their way out of this hole obviously but it’s certainly more in line with where we expected the Senators to be when the season started. Eleven points back of the New York Rangers for that second Wild Card spot with three games in hand. And with 56 games to play.
Time to get to work.
The Ottawa Senators continue this two-game road trip with a stop in Nashville to take on the Predators.
No morning skate scheduled for the Senators given the actual skating happens early in the afternoon. DJ Smith is expected to meet with the media before the game and explain any potential changes to his lineup.
One thing we do know is Mathieu Joseph is out after suffering a lower-body injury in Dallas. He’s expected to be out for a couple weeks. Parker Kelly draws back in.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Pinto-Batherson
Motte-Gambrell-Kelly
Brassard-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden
No word on a starting goalie just yet but fairly confident it will Be Anton Forsberg. Or Cam Talbot. Or Ron Tugnutt.
Puck drop is scheduled for a truly bizarre 1:38 PM in Nashville. TSN5 will send the video signal of today’s game into space via beams of tiny particles called electrons and then shoot those beams at the back of the screen through a picture tube. The beams will ultimately “paint” the pixels on the screen in a series of rows to form the picture. TSN1200 has the radio feed. Our ol’ buddy Bort is on the internet streams.
Also, today is December 10th. And tomorrow is December 11th. Just so You know.
Okay, with those important details clarified, let the HEAD2HEAD table tell you what else is going on.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 10-14-2 (22 pts) | 12-10-2 (26 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.08 (19th) | 2.63 (29th) |
| Goals Against | 3.35 (21st) | 3.08 (15th) |
| Power Play | 26.0% (7th) | 17.4% (28th) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.1% (18th) | 78.3% (16th) |
| Shots For | 33.8 (6th) | 30.2 (21st) |
| Shots Against | 33.3 (26th) | 32.9 (24th) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 30 pts Stutzle- 27 pts Giroux- 23 pts DeBrincat- 21 pts Batherson- 21 pts |
Forsberg- 23 pts Duchene- 21 pts Josi- 20 pts Granlund- 18 pts Johansen- 14 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
