Nashville Predators @ Ottawa Senators; Gameday Preview

It’s gameday, as the Ottawa Senators are facing off against the Nashville Predators tonight. The Predators are coming into town hot after a 9-2 drubbing over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

MATCHUP HISTORY

The Senators and Predators have already played each other once this season, and it came on the opening game for both teams. Nashville took that close game 3-2. All time the two teams have only met each other 18 times, with Ottawa’s record being 10-6-2. Last year the games were even as well, as Ottawa lost in overtime at home, and won in the shootout on the road. Historically the games have been quite low-scoring between these two, so it might be the same once again tonight.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Filip Forsberg, NSH- Forsberg has been exactly the type of player that Nashville has sorely lacked over the years, and he is the leading candidate so far for the Calder trophy. His 9 goals and 13 assists rank 6th in the entire league, so shutting him down will be priority number one for the Ottawa defence.

Mika Zibanejad, OTT- Curtis Lazar is absent from tonight’s game, so Zibanejad gets a chance to play with the “kids” Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone. I’ve been saying for a while that this should be the trio, and I’m excited to see if this gets Zibanejad’s game going.

TOP 3 STORYLINES

1. Greening’s last chance? – It’s been well documented that Ottawa has been shopping Colin Greening for a while now, and I think they would take just about anything in return. Greening comes back into the lineup tonight as Curtis Lazar looks to have a minor injury right now. He has only played 4 games this year with no points to show for it.  Once Marc Methot comes back, Greening may be the odd man out if the team decides to keep 8 defenceman instead of 14 forwards. I’m not expecting much, but he may look like a man on a mission tonight.

2. Lehner on the rebound – Robin Lehner is starting in his first game since the 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 9th. In his last two games he has allowed 9 goals, and it’s imperative for him to have a good game. Ottawa’s goalies have looked less invincible of late, and a lot of that has to do with the plethora of chances they’re giving up. A good start from Lehner tonight may give him more starts in the next few weeks.

3. Powerhouse Preds – Surprisingly, the Predators are second in the Western conference, and first in their division. With a record of 12-4-2, they are setting themselves up nicely for an unexpected playoff berth. They’re coming into tonight’s game going 5-1 in their last 6 games, so Ottawa will be facing a legitimately good team. Their defence and goaltending is one of the best in the league, so if Ottawa can break through that, it’ll be a great sign for the team.

LINEUPS

MacArthur-Turris-Chiasson
Greening-Legwand-Ryan
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Stone
Michalek-Smith-Neil

Phillips-Karlsson
Cowen-Ceci
Borowiecki-Gryba

Lehner