I had the most incredible dream.
In this dream, the Ottawa Senators were playing the San Jose Sharks on a Saturday night. After slugging an electric number of beers through the first two periods, I made an unscheduled and perhaps ill-advised trip to the Sens Store. Maybe a new hat? Another absurdly-sized $40 gold chain for my kid? No, no. Something for myself, I decided.
Oh I know- a brand new Claude Giroux jersey for some reason. Dreams are weird like that. And then I wore that jersey for the third period, watched the Senators fend off 10 scoring chances in like 90 seconds and then witnessed Claude Giroux rip a slap shot directly through an unsuspecting goalie’s soul.
There was a Sharks fan there for some reason. And he was so deeply angered by the sight of my brand new Giroux jersey, that he wanted to fight it. And I guess me.
Waaaaait, so it wasn’t a dream?!
The Ottawa Senators look to continue their recent surge when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Don’t look now but the Sens are starting to show some signs of life. They’ve now won four of their last five games and they’ve gradually started to pull their way out of the league basement. It’s a long climb to be sure but the season is long too. With 58 games left, they really do need to take it one game at a time. It’s cliché but it’s the only way to dig out of a hole of this magnitude. Winning 75% of your remaining games is daunting. Winning the next one? Now that sounds doable.
And they’ll have to do it with one less Zub than the optimum number of Zubs. Artem Zub is expected to miss the next three to four weeks after taking a shot to the jaw last week. That means we’ll get to see more of the current owner of the goggles, Nikita Zaitsev.
DJ Smith just wrapped up his morning media scrum and there will be one change to the lineup as Derick Brassard draws in for Dylan Gambrell.
Here’s how the good guys are expected to line up for this one.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Pinto-Batherson
Motte-Brassard-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zaitsev
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Holden
Cam Talbot gets the start for the Senators.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM at the Canadian Tire Centre. The game is available on television (TSN5), radio (TSN1200) and internet (StreamThoseSens.org).
Wondering how these teams match-up but can’t remember what happened last week and you’re too damn lazy to do your own research? Well have I got the HEAD2HEAD table for you.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 13-10-4 (30 pts) | 10-13-1 (21 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.37 (11th) | 3.13 (17th) |
| Goals Against | 3.59 (26th) | 3.25 (20th) |
| Power Play | 24.7% (12th) | 25.8% (9th) |
| Penalty Kill | 73.0% (26th) | 78.0% (18th) |
| Shots For | 32.4 (12th) | 33.9 (6th) |
| Shots Against | 29.4 (7th) | 33.5 (27th) |
| Leading Scorers | Fiala- 28 pts Kopitar- 21 pts Arvidsson- 19 pts Danault- 19 pts Vilardi- 19 pts |
Tkachuk- 29 pts Stutzle- 25 pts Giroux- 23 pts DeBrincat- 19 pts Batherson- 19 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
Wait….was it a dream?
