There’s no other way to put it, folks- the Ottawa Senators are rolling right now.
It’s funny how fast things can shift for a hockey team. One day, you’ve won a single hockey game in a month and the next, you’re on a two-game winning streak and have the look of a squad that may never lose again. Premature? How dare you, I say.
The Ottawa Senators return home to face the lowly Buffalo Sabres at an empty Canadian Tire Centre in scenic Kanata, Ontario.
Having been to Buffalo as recently as this weekend (still hungover, by the way), I can tell you that the Sabres barely exist at this point. They definitely play in that city. I saw the stadium with my own eyes. But in the shadow of the Buffalo Bills, they are basically an afterthought. Missing the playoffs in ten going on eleven consecutive years will do that, I suppose.
No game day skate planned for the home side but DJ Smith is scheduled to meet with the media around 10:45 AM so we’ll know more about the lineup then. A best guess for now based on how they finished Saturday night’s game.
Tkachuk-Norris-Ennis
Paul-Stützle-Batherson
Sanford-Gambrell-Watson
Formenton-Tierney-Gaudette
Chabot-Zub
Brannstrom-Brown
Mete-Bernard-Docker
We’ll have to wait until later this morning to confirm the starting goalie.
Puck drop is scheduled for just a shade after the seven o’clock hour. About 7:08 PM for the obsessively punctual among us. TSN5 and RDS2 will provide the moving images of the game, TSN1200 is serving up the audio depiction and my good friend Gary is on the hook for the illegal streams. Thanks Gary!
Here is a table I created for the purposes of outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the two clubs participating in tonight’s game.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 11-20-7 (29 pts) | 11-18-2 (24 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.53 (26th) | 2.84 (20th) |
| Goals Against | 3.47 (27th) | 3.61 (T-28th) |
| Power Play | 18.8% (T-18th) | 20.0% (15th) |
| Penalty Kill | 78.1% (20th) | 78.0% (T-21st) |
| Shots For | 28.8 (26th) | 28.7 (27th) |
| Shots Against | 34.2 (30th) | 33.8 (T-27th) |
| Leading Scorers | Thompson- 24 pts Dahlin- 23 pts Okposo- 23 pts Skinner- 23 pts Olofsson- 20 pts |
Batherson- 30 pts Norris- 24 pts Tkachuk- 24 pts Brown- 19 pts Chabot- 18 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
