The Ottawa Senators didn’t play their best hockey out West and they know it. Three of a possible six points isn’t terrible but the Sens know they left a point or two in Western Canada.
Yet oddly enough when the Senators left on that road trip, they were outside of a playoff spot. And now, even with four days off between games, the Senators are holding on to the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. The conference is wide open right now and any kind of hot streak could put Ottawa in a pretty good position.
Of course a quick glance at the schedule shows that tough days lie ahead. It starts tonight with a visit from the Maple Leaf killers, the Nashville Predators.
Under new Head Coach Peter Laviolette, the Nashville Predators have become one of the most dangerous teams in the Western Conference. Advanced stats will tell you this has been one of the league’s luckiest teams through the first quarter of the season but with Pekka Rinne in net, it’s reasonable to think the Preds will be able to sustain this pace throughout an 82 game schedule.
Their offence is sort of a mishmash of players that so far anyway, has clicked pretty well. Mike Ribeiro is just under a point a game, James Neal has scored nine times and the incredible Filip Forsberg is leading the charge with 22 points and a +20 rating through 18 games. Forsberg is without a doubt the greatest waiver wire pick up of my fantasy hockey career. Anyway, long story short- the Senators will need to be at their absolute best to hang with the Predators tonight.
(UPDATE 11:13 AM)- So after the morning skate, it looks like the lines have changed again. Curtis Lazar left during the morning skate and may not be able to go tonight. That means Zibanejad will move back to centre. Meanwhile Colin Greening steps back in on a line with Legwand and Ryan. Here is how the Senators are expected to line up.
MacArthur-Turris-Chiasson
Greening-Legwand-Ryan
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Stone
Michalek-Smith-Neil
Phillips-Karlsson
Cowen-Ceci
Borowiecki-Gryba
On defence, Chris Phillips sounds like he’s a game time decision. Robin Lehner gets the start in goal while it sounds like there is at least a chance the Preds go with Carter Hutton. We shall see.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM with the game available on TSN5 and RDS2. The Senators will wear the always delightful black heritage jersey for tonight’s game.
