This has been a weird year.
A ridiculous understatement in most parts of life but I was specifically referring to the Ottawa Senators.
While expectations were certainly elevated coming into the season, this was always going to be a transition period of sorts. It’s that point in the rebuild where the time had come to gradually turn the reins over to the young core. Not necessarily sink or swim but the last few months was all about finding out exactly what they had in this incredibly deep prospect pool. Maybe it took a little longer than some of us would have liked but we’re there now.
And what we know now, is this team has turned the corner. Our time is coming. After three straight dismal seasons, we have officially entered the RISING part of #OttawaRising. Unfortunately that pesky nine game losing in a short 56-game season put them in a hole too deep.
Unless…
No….they can’t.
Or….maybe….
Anyway, when you settle in to watch the Ottawa Senators humiliate the Montreal Canadiens later tonight and have that lingering feeling of, damn I wish this game really mattered, know that we’re at the end of that feeling. Starting next year, and for the foreseeable future, this hockey team is going to playing meaningful games again. And lots of them.
The Ottawa Senators travel to the Bell Centre on Saturday night.
No game day skate for the Senators so we’ll have to wait until 4:25 PM to find out the official lineup for this one. DJ Smith met with the media yesterday though and it doesn’t sound like there will be any changes to the 18 skaters.
That likely means another career-ruining night in the press box for our dear Jacob Bernard-Docker. A best guess at the lineup for now. I’ll actually include JBD in there because I don’t want spoil an otherwise lovely Saturday.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Stützle-White-Dadonov
Dzingel-Tierney-Brown
Formenton-Pinto-Paul
JACOB BERNARD-DOCKER
Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Zub
Mete-J. Brown
Based on what we heard from DJ yesterday, it will either by Anton Forsberg or Filip Gustavsson in goal.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:08 PM which means you should have enough time to watch the Kentucky Derby first. Highly Motivated wins in a close finish by the way.
The game is available on Sens-hating networks across the country. They’ll have the fake crowd noise dialed up to 10 for the Habs, including unnecessary shouting every time a Montreal player falls down and wrapping up with the delightful sound of the Canadiens being booed off the ice.
Don’t trust the HEAD2HEAD table- the Sens are better. It’s right about the toilet part though.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 19-27-4 (42 pts) | 22-18-9 (53 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.74 (19th) | 2.88 (14th) |
| Goals Against | 3.46 (30th) | 2.86 (T-16th) |
| Power Play | 16.5% (26th) | 20.1% (16th) |
| Penalty Kill | 78.4% (21st) | 77.4% (25th) |
| Shots For | 30.3 (8th) | 31.7 (6th) |
| Shots Against | 32.0 (27th) | 28.1 (5th) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 34 pts Batherson- 32 pts Norris- 32 pts Chabot- 30 pts Brown- 28 pts |
Toffoli- 38 pts Petry- 35 pts Suzuki- 33 pts Tatar- 30 pts Anderson- 24 pts |
| Starting Goliae | TBD | Carey Price, Hopefully |
Lastly, a little Game Day listening for those that missed it.
