After another convincing win on over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, the Ottawa Senators are now 3-0-0 in the preseason.
Preseason hockey doesn’t mean anything but it has been encouraging to see the Sens get off to such a good start. They’re one of three teams without a regulation loss in the preseason (Edmonton and San Jose are the others) and they have a +11 goal differential through those three games.
They’ll put that perfect record on the line tonight against the New Jersey Devils in O’Leary, Prince Edward Island.
O’Leary, Prince Edward Island is @hockeyville, and it means the world to everyone involved. #KraftHockeyville pic.twitter.com/ruIJNa3YPC
— NHL (@NHL) September 24, 2017
The Senators now have just three preseason games left before things start for real next week. Still some important decisions to be made before then.
With the latest round of cuts, the Senators have 30 players left in Camp including 3 goalies, 9 defenceman and 18 forwards. Yesterday, Max Lajoie was assigned to Belleville along with Mike Blunden and Max Reinhart. Blunden and Reinhart both have to clear waivers first.
Lajoie was one of the pleasant surprises of this year’s Camp. Returning to Junior was a possibility for him but the organization obviously feels like he’s ready to make the jump to pro hockey. Will be interesting to watch his progression this season.
While the Senators have their roster down to a more manageable number, some of the toughest decisions still have to be made. Up front, young guys like Logan Brown, Filip Chlapik and even Alex Formenton continue to show they are worthy of consideration while safer options like Max McCormick, Chris VandeVelde and Tyler Randell are still in the mix too.
On the blueline, nine guys remain. As expected, the battle is between Thomas Chabot and Ben Harpur for that final spot. Chabot has certainly been the more noticeable of the two but Harpur has a little more experience, including some playoff games already under his belt.
The Senators are on the ice for a morning skate at 9:30 AM this morning so we’ll have to wait until then to confirm the line up. The roster for tonight’s game includes everyone left in Camp with the exception of Craig Anderson and Colin White who both didn’t make the trip to PEI.
Formenton-Turris-Smith
Burrows-Pageau-Chlapik
McCormick-Brown-Pyatt
VandeVelde-Thompson-Randell
Phaneuf-Chabot
Borowiecki-Harpur
Claesson-Wideman
Mike Condon will get the start and is expected to split duties with Andrew Hammond. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 6:00 PM and broadcast on Sportsnet One.
