If it seems like I’m a little off my game today well that’s because I am.
See, up until the minute I started to write this Game Day post, I thought the Senators were playing the New York Rangers tonight. Had a couple Mika Zibanejad jokes ready to go, maybe something about Freddy Claesson and an out of place reference to the bright lights of Broadway. The 300 word Game Day post was basically going to write itself.
And now, much to my surprise, I find out that this game is actually against the New York Islanders. And apparently Thursday’s game is too. Time to dig deep, SensChirp. 16 games to go.
The red-hot Ottawa Senators, winners of 1 of their last 1 games, roll into the Island accompanied by their longest win streak (one) in almost a month. Things are trending in the right direction for Ottawa in the last day or so, as they’ve outscored the opposition by a 3-2 margin over this recent stretch. And what’s most impressive is they’ve done it in a variety of ways. They have a 1-0-0 record in games where they trail after the first period and a tidy 1-0-0 record when they have a lead heading into the third period.
Yes, indeed. Things are finally starting to look up for the Senators.
Meanwhile it’s the exact opposite for the Islanders, who appear to be the victims of some sort of self-imposed curse, losing every single game (two) since they booed John Tavares. As hilarious as that was to watch, it appears to have doomed the franchise for the rest of time. Probably still worth it though.
On a serious note, if you’re looking for a feel-good story this season, look no further than former-Senator Robin Lehner.
From the moment Lehner arrived on the scene in the Sens organization, first in Binghamton and then in Ottawa, it was clear that he had starting goalie potential. But issues away from the rink that began in Ottawa and followed him to Buffalo, which Lehner opened up about earlier this year, kept the goalie from reaching his full potential.
Lehner was given an opportunity to get his life and his career back on track with the Islanders and he is making the most of it. He has posted an incredible 20-11-5 record along with an impressive 2.13 GAA and a .929 sv%. He seems like a lock to win the Masterton Award at the end of the year and he might even pick up a Vezina nomination too.
It’s great to see things working out for Lehner on the Island and assuming he starts tonight, I would like to congratulate him on the shutout in advance.
Marc Crawford has his team on the ice for the Game Day skate. Looks like Christian Wolanin might be the odd man out on defence. Here’s how they are lined up.
Tkachuk-White-Gibbons
Balcers-Tierney-Paajarvi
Smith-Pageau-Ryan
Duclair-Lindberg-Boedker
Chabot-DeMelo
Harpur-Ceci
Borowiecki-Jaros
Wolanin
Craig Anderson is in the starter’s end. Puck drop, which is not happening at MSG by the way, is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
The game is available on TSN5, RDS and you can probably stream the hell out of it if you have one of them internet things in yer house.
And now, the second most popular table in Sens History…the Head2Head Table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 23-38-5 (51 pts) | 37-21-7 (69 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.95 (T-16th) | 2.83 (T-20th) |
| Goals Against | 3.73 (30th) | 2.34 (1st) |
| Power Play | 20.8% (14th) | 16.0% (25th) |
| Penalty Kill | 78.5% (24th) | 80.4% (14th) |
| Shots For | 30.2 (23rd) | 28.3 (30th) |
| Shots Against | 36.1 (31st) | 30.7 (10th) |
| Leading Scorers | Chabot- 47 pts Tierney- 41 pts Ryan- 35 pts |
Barzal- 52 pts Bailey- 49 pts Nelson- 43 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Craig Anderson 14-22-3 3.54 GAA, .903 sv% |
Robin Lehner 20-11-5 2.13 GAA, .929 sv% |
