This season sucks.
It sucks that despite the fact that the Senators continue to outplay the opposition for long stretches, they aren’t getting rewarded for it. It sucks that two things as random as goaltending and shooting luck have turned on them at the same time. It sucks that even though the young players that really matter are carrying the team, we continue to obsess over the ones that aren’t here and on the placeholder veterans that won’t be here for much longer. And it sucks that after 300 days of missing our dear Ottawa Senators, we spend all damn day complaining about every possible thing about the organization.
This season sucks.
The Ottawa Senators continue their road trip in Winnipeg this afternoon.
Fifteen games into the regular season, it’s starting to look like this may not be Ottawa’s year. They sit comfortably in last place in the North Division, seven points back of the sixth place Canucks. They also sit last in the entire National Hockey League, three points back of a Detroit Red Wings team that forfeits most of their games.
It’s looking pretty grim. It’s going to make this upcoming 15-game winning streak that much better though.
No game day skate today but we know there will be a couple changes for the Senators. Cedric Paquette, who comes into this one riding a one-game goal scoring streak, draws in up front. Alex Galchenyuk will sit but somehow still take a penalty at some point during the game. On the blueline, Zuuuuuuuuub draws back in and Josh Brown sits.
Here’s a collection of names, specifically arranged in the order that will anger you most.
Tkachuk-Tierney-C. Brown
Paul-White-Dadonov
Stützle-Stepan-Batherson
Paquette-Norris-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Reilly-Zub
Wolanin-Gudbranson
Marcus Hogberg starts. Filip Gustavsson dresses as his back-up. Arty Party moves to the taxi squad to clear a spot for The Goose.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 3:00 PM so you know what that means- DAY DRUNK! Unless of course it’s your wife’s birthday then it means SNEAKY DAY DRUNK! The game is available on CBC, Sportsnet, TVA and the NHL Network. Dean and Gord have the call on TSN1200 and someone named Steve will be providing illegal streams for one and all.
Here’s a closer look at how these team’s match-up. May I suggest taking a serious gander at the ol’ shots for category.
HOW BOUT THEM SENS?!
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 2-12-1 (5 pts) | 8-4-1 (17 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.13 (29th) | 3.54 (T-5th) |
| Goals Against | 4.20 (31st) | 2.69 (14th) |
| Power Play | 13.3% (25th) | 22.7% (14th) |
| Penalty Kill | 74.1% (25th) | 80.6% (T-14th) |
| Shots For | 32.1 (4th) | 29.9 (17th) |
| Shots Against | 30.8 (21st) | 31.7 (23rd) |
| Leading Scorers | Norris- 8 pts Tkachuk- 8 pts Chabot- 7 pts Stützle- 6 pts Watson- 6 pts |
Scheifele- 17 pts Ehlers- 16 pts Connor- 13 pts Wheeler- 12 pts Copp- 12 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Marcus Hogberg 0-5-0 4.88 GAA, .836 sv% |
TBD |
