Can’t win ’em all, as the old saying goes.
On Saturday afternoon, the Ottawa Senators probably deserved better. For two out of three periods, they outplayed the division-leading Montreal Canadiens. They just couldn’t find a way to get that tying goal past Jake Allen.
The good news is after a horrendous nine-game slide, the Senators finally seem to have this thing back on the rails. Amazing what happens when you get NHL-quality goaltending.
Ottawa will look to build off the last six periods when they host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.
As the Senators found out the hard way last week, this Edmonton team can make you look pretty silly if you’re not ready to go from the moment the puck is dropped. Ottawa gave up a ridiculous eight goals in the first period of those two games last week so it’s safe to say that a better start is key for the Senators in this one.
The Senators made a couple roster moves over the weekend. Both Filip Chlapik and Matthew Peca were assigned to the American Hockey League while Logan Brown was recalled and placed on the taxi squad.
Brown was skating on what looked like the fifth line at practice yesterday so it’s not entirely clear whether he’ll step right into the lineup. Meanwhile Christian Wolanin was back at practice on Sunday although according to the Head Coach, he hasn’t been cleared to play.
DJ Smith confirmed the Senators will go with the same lineup as Saturday against Montreal.
Tkachuk-Norris-Dadonov
Paul-White-Batherson
Stützle-Tierney-C. Brown
Galchenyuk-Stepan-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Gudbranson
Reilly-Zub
Matt Murray is expected to get the start for Ottawa.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM. Please don’t be late because we will start without you. The game is available on TSN5, RDS, TSN1200 and wherever you acquire your illegal internet streams.
Here’s a closer look at this evening’s festivities.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 6-7-0 (12 pts) | 2-9-1 (5 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.54 (T-8th) | 2.33 (28th) |
| Goals Against | 3.77 (29th) | 4.33 (31st) |
| Power Play | 26.5% (9th) | 14.8% (22nd) |
| Penalty Kill | 72.7% (24th) | 72.3% (25th) |
| Shots For | 31.1 (12th) | 30.8 (13th) |
| Shots Against | 32.2 (24th) | 31.6 (21st) |
| Leading Scorers | McDavid- 26 pts Draisaitl- 23 pts RNH- 11 pts Nurse- 10 pts Barrie- 10 pts |
Tkachuk- 7 pts Chabot- 7 pts Norris- 7 pts Stützle- 6 pts Batherson- 6 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Mike Smith 0-0-0 -.– GAA, .— sv% |
Matt Murray 2-5-1 4.10 GAA, .875 sv% |
