It’s been so long.
To recap, the Ottawa Senators, or the Sénateurs d’Ottawa, (colloquially known as the Sens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario. Artem Zub plays there. Okay, now you’re all caught up.
The Ottawa Senators return to the ice after a four-day hiatus. Waiting for them- Rudolfs Balcers, Jonathan Dahlen and the rest of the undefeated San Jose Sharks.
There are a ton of storylines heading into this one but tonight is all about The Return. One of the most talented, hard-working and fiercely loyal players in the history of the Ottawa Senators makes his return to a city that adores him. On a list of fan favourites, he sits comfortably near the top. A one-of-a-kind player that can bring fans out of their seats on every shift.
Brady Tkachuk makes his return to the Ottawa lineup.
Tonight’s opposition is the surprisingly undefeated San Jose Sharks. They are off to a 2-0-0 start although one of those wins was against the Montreal Canadiens so it doesn’t really count.
DJ Smith has had a few days of practice and there really hasn’t been any changes to the line combinations. That means Brady is back with Josh and Drake, the identify line remains and Chris Tierney just does his best to keep up on a line with Tim Stützle and Alex Formenton. Meanwhile Victor Mete sits again while Uncle Delly plays his second straight game.
No Game Day skate today but here’s how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Paul-Pinto-Brown
Stützle-Tierney-Formenton
Sanford-Shaw-Ennis
Chabot-Zub
Del Zotto-Zaitsev
Holden-Brown
Matt Murray gets the start in the Ottawa goal.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM. The game is available on TSN5, RDS2, TSN1200 or if you really wanna get nuts, you can head down to the CTC and see this thing play out in real-life.
Make sure you’re in your seats early though- rumour has it there will be a heartfelt “Thank You” montage planned for San Jose Sharks GM and Ottawa-native, Doug Wilson.
Thanks Doug!
Here’s a closer look at this evening’s match-up through a table critics are calling, “Definitely a table.”. It’s the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 2-0-0 (4 pts) | 2-1-0 (4 pts) |
| Goals For | 4.50 (T-4th) | 2.33 (T-21st) |
| Goals Against | 1.50 (2nd) | 2.33 (T-7th) |
| Power Play | 44.4% (T-1st) | 44.4% (T-1st) |
| Penalty Kill | 100.0% (T-1st) | 80.0% (9th) |
| Shots For | 28.0 (T-28th) | 28.0 (T-28th) |
| Shots Against | 22.0 (1st) | 37.0 (28th) |
| Leading Scorers | Karlsson- 4 pts Meier- 4 pts Couture- 3 pts Dahlen- 2 pts Eklund- 2 pts |
Tierney- 3 pts Brown- 3 pts Ennis- 3 pts Norris- 1 pt Stützle- 1 pt |
| Starting Goalie | James Reimer 0-0-0 -.– GAA, .—sv% |
Matt Murray 0-0-0 -.– GAA, .— sv% |
