Dave Cameron’s Ottawa Senators Host The L.A. Kings
After relieving Paul MacLean of his head coaching duties on Monday, the Senators,now under Dave Cameron, will face a trial by fire in the defending Stanley Cup Champions Los Angeles Kings. Can a coaching change right the Senators’ ship, or is the roster simply too lacking?
Ottawa: 11-11-3-2
Los Angeles: 14-9-2-3
7:30 PM EST
CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE
OTTAWA
TV: TSN5, RDS; RADIO: TSN1200
MATCHUP HISTORY
The Senators faced the Kings twice last season and lost both games. They fell 4-3 in overtime on October 9 of 2013 in L.A. and 5-2 in Ottawa on December 14, 2013. Jeff Carter was dominant with three goals and six points, while Anze Kopitar was also impressive with two goals and four points of his own. Former Senator Joe Corvo led Ottawa with a goal and three points while Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan had a goal and an assist each.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tyler Toffoli, LAK: The former 67s star has been impressive this season, and currently leads the Kings with 20 points, including 10 goals, through 28 games. Never an outstanding skater, Toffoli is the kind of player that relies on his instincts and offensive talents to get to where he needs to be on the ice and bury the puck. The Senators will need to be aware whenever he is on the ice and make sure he doesn’t break away from coverage.
Mika Zibanejad, OTT: While the Senators’ 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Vancouver Canucks last Sunday wasn’t enough to save Paul MacLean’s job, it was impressive nonetheless, especially for Zibanejad. With two goals and four points, Zibanejad set a career high for points in a game, and now finds himself tied for third on the Senators in goals with seven despite not scoring until his ninth game of the season. Is this a sign of the 21 year old Swede finally breaking out? How will his ice time and linemates differ under new coach Dave Cameron?
3 STORYLINES TO THE GAME
1. NEW COACH’S IMPACT: With his promotion from assistant to head coach, Dave Cameron became the 10th head coach in modern Senators franchise history, and the fifth to be hired under general manager Bryan Murray, excluding Murray returning to the bench late in the 2007-08 season after John Paddock was shown the door. If Murray’s comments on Monday about certain star players feeling MacLean outed them for the team’s struggles far too often is true, it will be interesting to see how they respond with a different head coach guiding them, even if they’re already very familiar with him. It will also be interesting to see how he deploys players, a frequent criticism of his predecessor who would play Chris Phillips on the top defensive pairing and regularly put Chris Neil out in the last minute of games where the Senators were down a goal, despite each player often being less than effective. Will the star players buy in more? Will younger players be given more ice time and struggling veterans get reduced role? Can Cameron implement a defensive system that doesn’t have the Senators running ragged in their own end? Even if these things do happen, will they be enough for the Senators to be truly competitive, or is their dead-last payroll to much to overcome?
2. TRIAL BY FIRE: While the Kings have not been dominant, and currently sit ninth in the Western Conference, they also play in a deep division with the Ducks, Sharks, and surprisingly good Canucks and Flames. Then there’s the matter of their two Stanley Cups in the last four seasons. In short, this is still a very deep team, and an overwhelming challenge for a Senators squad that’s had many struggles this season. Dave Cameron said after his first practice as head coach that the best way to break out a slump is to beat a really good team, so what better way to show this team is better than it has been of late than beating the defending champions?
3. DEFENSIVE ZONE STRUGGLES: This ties in with Cameron’s potential impact as the new bench boss. The Senators have struggled in their own end, especially with giving up shots. We don’t need to delve into this fact as it has been beaten to death already, and for good reason. However, now that Cameron is running things it will be interesting to see if this changes at all. While I’m sure he has different views and stylistic preferences than MacLean, the fact is he has been a part of the coaching staff since MacLean took over in 2011, and this team has given up lots of shots ever since then. There is some reason to be optimistic here though. When asked on Tuesday about the Senators’ penchant for giving up too many shots, Cameron addressed it with actual suggestions as to how the team can improve. These included managing the neutral zone better, and improved puck management and retrieval in their own end. The neutral zone comment stood out to me, as it does seem fairly smart to try and avoid opponents getting the puck and gaining the Senators’ zone with ease. But how will coverage and positioning change to accomplish this? It’s also unlikely we’ll see a major shift after just a few practices with a new coach. We’ll have to wait and see over the next few weeks as Cameron and the players iron out the details.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
As per the Senators’ website, the lineups for tonight will be:
SENATORS
Colin Greening – Kyle Turris – Erik Condra
Mike Hoffman – Mika Zibanejad- Bobby Ryan
Mark Stone – Curtis Lazar – Alex Chiasson
David Legwand – Zack Smith – Chris Neil
Chris Phillips – Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen – Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki – Eric Gryba
Craig Anderson
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Patrick Wiercioch
Injured: Clarke MacArthur (sick), Milan Michalek (upper body), Marc Methot (back/hip)
KINGS
Marian Gaborik – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli
Dustin Brown – Jarret Stoll – Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford – Mike Richards – Dwight King
Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty
Robyn Regehr – Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb – Matt Greene
Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones
Scratched: Jamie McBain, Jordan Nolan, Slava Voynov
Injured: None
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the game.