It didn’t take long for the shine to wear off.
When the regular season started a little less than a month ago, there was an undeniable excitement in the air. And then when Brady Tkachuk signed his long-term deal with the Senators, it sent the fan base into a frenzy.
While everyone acknowledged there was still work to do, it really felt like the Senators were in as good a position as they’ve been in years. A roster loaded with young talent and more on the way. Six picks in the first three rounds of what is supposed to be one of the deepest drafts in years. They have young stars making long-term commitments because they believe in what the franchise is building here. And they have those cool jerseys! And Zub!
But they’ve dropped four straight, so now nobody wants to talk about all that fun stuff anymore.
The shorthanded Ottawa Senators travel to Boston to take on the Bruins.
It’s no secret that the Sens are in tough as they take on a Bruins team that should be in a foul mood after a Saturday night loss to the Leafs.
The Senators have a total of five guys in COVID protocol including Austin Watson, Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell, Nick Holden and Associate Coach Jack Capuano. Erik Brannstrom, Egor Sokolov and Scott Sabourin have all been recalled from Belleville.
And in the case of Brannstrom anyway, he’s certainly going to get an opportunity to show what he can do. The Coach talked about it a bit yesterday and gave the impression that they’ll give him a longer leash this time around and ideally, put him in a position to succeed. He’s going to start tonight on the second pairing with Artem Zub.
Meanwhile Egor Sokolov, playing in his first NHL game, will start on the fourth line with Parker Kelly and Logan Shaw. Seems like he may have a chance to move up quickly though with Ottawa’s RW depth being seriously tested.
Here’s how DJ Smith has them lined up at the Game Day skate.
Tkachuk-Norris-Sanford
Stutzle-Paul-Batherson
Formenton-Tierney-Ennis
Kelly-Shaw-Sokolov
Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Zub
Del Zotto-Brown
Matt Murray is expected to get the start in goal for the Senators.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM. The game is available on TSN5, RDS2 and on the radio at TSN1200. If shady internet streams are more your speed, I know a guy who knows a guy (Bort) who can hook you up.
Here is a closer look at this evening’s match-up via the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 3-7-1 (7 pts) | 5-4-0 (10 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.55 (25th) | 2.67 (T-21st) |
| Goals Against | 3.64 (30th) | 2.89 (17th) |
| Power Play | 20.0% (18th) | 25.0% (T-9th) |
| Penalty Kill | 72.4% (26th) | 75.9% (T-21st) |
| Shots For | 29.8 (T-20th) | 35.3 (3rd) |
| Shots Against | 34.3 (29th) | 28.0 (28th) |
| Leading Scorers | Batherson- 12 pts Norris- 9 pts Brown- 7 pts Ennis- 6 pts Stutzle- 5 pts |
Marchand- 14 pts Bergeron- 8 pts Hall- 6 pts Pastrnak- 6 pts Coyle- 5 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Matt Murray 0-3-0 3.10 GAA, .891 sv% |
Jeremy Swayman 2-2-0 2.28 GAA, .900 sv% |
