Don’t let the lack of a Game Day post fool you, folks- the Ottawa Senators do indeed play a hockey game.
It’s in Washington. It’s against the Capitals. And it’s going to be…interesting.
See, the Washington Capitals are the best team in the National Hockey League. They are so good, that they occasionally win hockey games after conceding an empty net goal to go down two goals with a minute left to play.
Granted that was against the San Jose Sharks so it’s not THAT impressive (#SharkTank!) but still.
The Caps have a 29-9-5 record, they have a four point lead on the next closest team, they have a +26 goal differential, they have a 12-4-4 record on home ice and they have a recently-raised Stanley Cup banner hanging above their ice surface.
The Ottawa Senators have….their work cut out of them.
DJ Smith will meet with the media in Washington at 4:50 PM at which point, we’ll know more about the 18 skaters and two goalies that will represent our nation in tonight’s capital city showdown.
What we do know is that grizzled veteran Ron Hainsey remains day to day due to that aforementioned grizzleness. His status and purpose remains unknown. Nikita Zaitsev is questionable and will likely remain so for the duration of his contract.
Meanwhile Dylan DeMelo is hilarious and potentially active for tonight’s game and the same thing goes for Anthony Duclair. Duclair missed Saturday’s game after blocking a shot the other night. You hear that, Torts?!
Anyway, no game day skate today because frankly, the Senators will need all their energy against the league’s top team.
A best guess at the line up based on yesterday’s practice.
Tkachuk-Pageau-Duclair
Paul-White-Batherson
Ennis-Tierney-C.Brown
Namestnikov-Anisimov-Balcers
Chabot-DeMelo
Borowiecki-Jaros
Reilly-Englund
No word on a goalie yet but I am fairly certain the Senators will have one. They may want to consider playing both though.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM which means the pain starts a little earlier but wraps up sooner too. TSN5 has the broadcast although should things get out of hand, don’t be surprised if they cut away to a replay of the 2016 STIHL Timbersports World Championship or some shit.
Just kidding- the Ottawa Senators are definitely going to win tonight.
Here’s a table that suggests otherwise. Stupid table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 16-21-5 (37 pts) | 29-9-5 (63 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.79 (22nd) | 3.53 (4th) |
| Goals Against | 3.36 (29th) | 2.95 (T-10th) |
| Power Play | 11.4% (31st) | 21.8% (10th) |
| Penalty Kill | 81.0% (17th) | 83.3% (3rd) |
| Shots For | 29.8 (25th) | 31.8 (15th) |
| Shots Against | 33.0 (28th) | 30.2 (8th) |
| Leading Scorers | Duclair- 32 pts Pageau- 30 pts Brown- 25 pts |
Carlson- 52 pts Ovechkin- 40 pts Kuznetsov- 40 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Craig Anderson 6-10-1 3.12 GAA, .900 sv% |
Ilya Samsonov 11-2-1 2.33 GAA, .918 sv% |
