It’s Saturday.
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and later this afternoon in beautiful Kanata, Ontario, the Sens will be Sens’ing.
The Ottawa Senators continue their five-game homestand when they host (INSERT NAME OF ARIZONA COYOTE) and the rest of the Arizona Coyotes.
Heading into the new season, there was a lot of talk about getting off to a better start. After the way the Sens stumbled out of the gate last year, it seemed especially important that DJ Smith find a way to make sure his team was ready to go right off the hop. So when they started the season 0-2, it didn’t take long for those early stages of panic to set in. But now, after two consecutive wins on home ice, the Senators seem to have this thing pointed in the right direction.
That game against Washington on Thursday night was as good as an Ottawa team has looked in years. And if they put in that kind of effort on a regular basis, they’re going to win a whole bunch of hockey games. If they put in that effort against the Coyotes, they might win by 20.
No changes expected for the Senators.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Batherson
DeBrincat-Norris-Giroux
Motte-Pinto-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden
Anton Forsberg gets the start in goal for the home side.
Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 PM down at the Centre Canadian Tire. You can watch the game with your eyes on TSN5, listen with your ears on TSN1200 or feel it in your bones down at the CTC. If illegal internet streams are more your speed, I know a guy (Gary) who knows a guy (also Gary).
Here’s a closer look at this afternoon’s match-up via the table critics are calling “somewhat informative and mostly a table”. It’s the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 1-3-0 (2 pts) | 2-2-0 (4 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.75 (26th) | 3.75 (13th) |
| Goals Against | 5.00 (31st) | 3.50 (21st) |
| Power Play | 31.3% (5th) | 25.0% (12th) |
| Penalty Kill | 73.3% (23rd) | 69.2% (28th) |
| Shots For | 24.5 (31st) | 34.8 (10th) |
| Shots Against | 38.5 (30th) | 31.5 (13th) |
| Leading Scorers | Ghostbear- 5 pts Ritchie- 4 pts Moser- 4 pts Boyd- 3 pts Crouse- 3 pts |
Batherson- 6 pts Tkachuk- 6 pts Giroux- 4 pts DeBrincat- 4 pts Pinto- 3 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Karel Vejmelka 1-2-0 4.35 GAA, .894 sv% |
Anton Forsberg 2-2-0 3.03 GAA, .903 sv% |
