Okay, that sucked.
As far as losses go, the collapse against the Nashville Predators is right up there with the worst. To play that well for 40 minutes and watch it all unravel in such a spectacular fashion was a kick directly in the soul. At the end of the second, it seemed like this team might actually be ready to fight their way back into the playoffs. When the final horn sounded, this team needed to be launched into orbit. A little dramatic perhaps but ya, that sucked.
The Ottawa Senators will look to get back on track as they welcome Ron Francis, Pat Verbeek, Andrew Cassells and the rest of the Hartford Whalers.
That song is a banger, by the way.
No lineup immediately available but probably something like this…
Batherson-Stutzle-Giroux
Tkachuk-Cozens-Greig
Amadio-Pinto-Zetterlund
Halliday-Eller-Cousins
Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Spence
Kleven-Matinpalo
James Reimer is the likely starter, I reckon.
Puck drops at 7:08 PM tonight at The Tire. The game is televised, on the radio and streaming on various platforms but you could also brave the once-in-a-century polar vortex that has descended upon the city and walk down the 💨💨wind tunnel of doom 💨💨 in front of the stadium like a REAL FAN and see this thing in person. I dare ya.
Here’s a closer look at how these two teams match-up courtesy of one of the most visually appealing editions of the HEAD2HEAD table I’ve ever created. The Tip Jar is here, by the way.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 31-15-5 (67 pts) | 23-20-7 (53 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.37 (14th) | 3.26 (11th) |
| Goals Against | 2.86 (9th) | 3.38 (28th) |
| Power Play | 21.2% (13th) | 23.5% (8th) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.7% (14th) | 71.7% (31st) |
| Shots For | 32.3 (2nd) | 28.3 (15th) |
| Shots Against | 24.1 (1st) | 25.2 (3rd) |
| Leading Scorers | Aho-52 pts Svechnikov-42 pts Ehlers-39 pts Jarvis-37 pts Ghostbear-32 pts |
Stutzle-51 pts Batherson-44 pts Sanderson-40 pts Cozens-38 pts Giroux-35 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Brandon Bussi 18-3-1 2.23 GAA, .906 sv% |
James Reimer 1-1-1 3.00 GAA, .890 sv% |
A very Happy Jacques Martin Day to you all, by the way.