There is good news and there is bad news.
We’ll start with the bad news. The Ottawa Senators have lost four straight and have just two wins in their last 14 attempts. They sit in dead last in the NHL and at this present moment, have the look of a team that might never win again.
That’s the bad news. The good news is they play again tonight. Wait.
The Ottawa Senators close out a road trip from hell against the Los Angeles Kings.
And while the schedule clearly indicates there is indeed a game being played later this evening, a lot of the talk both last night and into today, centres around the future of Matt Murray.
Late last night, we learned that the Senators intend to put the 27-year old goalie on waivers today. Nobody in the organization has commented on the news yet so we don’t really know the thought process behind the move or the sequence of events that led them to this decision but on the surface, it’s a fairly shocking development.
Not because he has played well, obviously. But more so because he still has another two years on his deal after this season and at $6.25 mil per. Nobody is touching that contract, so it’s a move that doesn’t really serve any particular purpose. Maybe they want him to go to Belleville and work through some issues in his game? Maybe they’ve seen enough entirely? Hard to say.
In his column this morning. Bruce Garrioch suggested “This may be nothing more than a wakeup call to try to get Murray back on track.” He also mentions teams like Buffalo and Arizona as teams looking for goaltending help. That seems…unlikely.
Again, all that is on the surface. Until we hear more about the reasoning and the circumstances that led to this point, it’s hard to know for sure.
And so, with that mild to major distraction playing out, the Senators head to Los Angeles to close out what has really been a disastrous road trip.
Think we all knew they were in a tough spot, what with the COVID pause and the injuries, but after last night’s loss in Anaheim, it’s fair to say that the wheels have come off here. After tonight, the Senators have a few days off which should serve as a good chance at a bit of a reset.
DJ Smith is set to meet the media at 12:30 PM today so we’ll know more about the lineup, and maybe about the plans for Matt Murray, following that media availability. We’ll assume same lineup for now.
Tkachuk-Norris-Sanford
Paul-Stützle-Brown
Formenton-Tierney-Ennis
Kelly-Gambrell-Watson
Chabot-Thomson
Holden-Zub
Mete-Zaitsev
Filip Gustavsson is the likely starter.
Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM. The game is available on Sportsnet One, TSN 1200 and on shady streaming sites across the information super highway.
How do these team match up, you ask? Let the HEAD2HEAD table be your guide.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-13-1 (9 pts) | 8-8-3 (19 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.44 (7th) | 2.53 (25th) |
| Goals Against | 3.83 (32nd) | 2.74 (10th) |
| Power Play | 17.7% (20th) | 18.2% (18th) |
| Penalty Kill | 74.1% (28th) | 77.1% (26th) |
| Shots For | 29.1 (24th) | 34.8 (4th) |
| Shots Against | 34.2 (30th) | 30.2 (10th) |
| Leading Scorers | Batherson- 16 pts Norris- 12 pts Tkachuk- 11 pts Brown- 9 pts Ennis- 9 pts |
Kopitar- 18 pts Iafallo- 13 pts Kempe- 12 pts Danault- 9 pts Arvidsson- 7 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Filip Gustavsson 3-4-1 3.41 GAA, .905 sv% |
TBD |
