So far, the early part of the Ottawa Senators’ season has felt a bit like watching live sports on Netflix. Things look good for a while, then they don’t, leaving fans ready to throw something at the TV.
But buffering isn’t the problem for the Senators. It’s been inconsistency and goaltending. Again. The club is now hoping this week’s four-game run at home, where they’re 5-2 so far, will help get their glitchy season running smoothly.
The Situation: Streaming metaphors aside, it’s a huge homestand for the Senators, who are still in earshot of a playoff spot, but they’ll have to make a move soon. It might seem absurd in other markets to be looking at the standings this early, but not in Ottawa, where the playoff drought is long and late November is where seasons go to die.
It won’t take much for the 9-6-1 Tampa Bay Lightning to skate out of reach with that third Atlantic Division playoff spot. And the final wild card is shaping up to be a free-for-all again.
Right now, the Senators are literally within two points of everyone who isn’t in a playoff position.
Without getting into games in hand, they’re two points back of Boston and one back of the Flyers and Islanders. They’re tied with the Sabres and Penguins and one point ahead of Columbus, Detroit, and Montreal.
At least one of those teams is likely to go on a run over the next month. So, no one in that massive NHL glob of mediocrity can afford to continue glitching out.
Challenging Schedule: Over the next week, the Senators will face four of the top five teams from the Pacific Division: Edmonton tonight, Vegas Thursday, Vancouver Saturday, and Calgary Monday. That said, for a .500 club in the parity-laden NHL, every opponent is challenging.
Tuesday’s Opponent: Based on the current standings, the defending Clarence Campbell Bowl winners are actually the worst of the four Pacific visitors at 9-8-2. This will be the final game of the Oilers’ three-game road trip through Eastern Canada. They’re in a back-to-back situation after getting blanked 3-0 in Montreal last night. Almost every Oiler spoke after the game about playing too much on the perimeter. They also lost 4-3 in overtime in Toronto on Saturday night.
McDavid in Ottawa: Five-time Art Ross Trophy winner Connor McDavid makes his lone appearance in Ottawa this season. 21 points in 16 games is nothing to scoff at, but it’s a little odd to see him in 14th place in NHL points per game. He’s generally heating up, though, with 11 points in the four games prior to last night, and he’ll likely be in a mood after being shut out in Montreal.
Germany’s Best: The game features a head-to-head matchup of Tim Stützle and Leon Draisaitl, probably Germany’s two best players. Stützle just reached a milestone with the most points (267) of any German-born player at the 300-game mark of his NHL career. That’s 23 points more than Draisaitl, but if we’re splitting hairs, Dany Heatley, born in Freiburg, Germany, blew them both out of the water. The former Senator hit the 300-game mark at well over a point per game.
Lineups: The Senators held an optional skate this morning, and winger Noah Gregor was wearing a non-contact jersey. So the lineup probably won’t change from yesterday’s setup. JBD is, again, tracking to be a healthy scratch.
Tkachuk – Norris – Greig
Giroux – Stützle – Batherson
Amadio – Pinto – Perron
Cousins – Gaudette – MacEwen
Sanderson – Zub
Chabot – Jensen
Kleven – Hamonic
Faceoff is at 7 PM (SNW, RDS, TSN5) at Canadian Tire Centre.
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