After another three day break to reflect on what has gone wrong early in the season, the Ottawa Senators return to action tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre.
It’s a building that hasn’t been overly kind to the Sens through four games. Ottawa has gone 0-2-2 in their own barn and are still looking for that elusive first home ice win of the season. If you’re looking for positives though, the Senators have actually played pretty well the last few games.
In the first five games of the season they were outshot badly. Since then, they have outshot their opponent in three consecutive games by a total of 116-83. They’ve cut down on the number of high quality scoring chances against and seem to be trending in the right direction defensively. Yet over that same stretch, they’ve looked somewhat lifeless in the offensive end.
Outshooting your opponent is one thing but the Senators need to generate more high quality scoring chances and at the same time, find a way to close out games.
Tonight’s opposition, the Calgary Flames, has some issues of their own.
With expectations fairly high coming into this season, the Flames have stumbled out of the blocks going 2-7-0 in the first nine games. They were outscored 8-1 in back to back games in New York on Sunday and Monday and have not surprisingly found their way into the rumour mill a little bit the last few days. If the Flames can’t turn things around soon, their GM Brad Treliving could pull the trigger on a trade to shake things up.
That sort of motivation should make the Flames a motivated bunch tonight.
For the Sens, the biggest challenge will be navigating the injury issues that have been such a concern lately. While it’s bad news for some, it’s a great opportunity for both Shane Prince and Matt Puempel. Both guys were considered on the bubble throughout training camp and now both suddenly find themselves among the top six forwards.
Some good news on the injury front as both Marc Methot and Milan Michalek appear healthy and ready to go. Mike Hoffman is skating this morning but is not expected to play. Curtis Lazar is definitely out for this one. Clarke MacArthur remains without a timeline for his return.
Here’s how the Sens are lined up at the morning skate
Prince-Turris-Stone
Puempel-Zibanejad-Ryan
Michalek-Pageau-Chiasson
McCormick-Smith-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Cowen-Borowiecki
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
