Ottawa Senators To Take On Alexander Ovechkin’s Capitals
By Jack Leiper
Here we are, the Ottawa Senators have their last game before the 3-day christmas break and they take on the Caps. Capitals star, Alex Ovechkin just scored a beauty and has 15 goals this season as he’s been hot.
Ottawa Senators (14-13-6)
@
Washington Capitals (16-10-6)
December 22nd, 2014
Verizon Center, 7:00 PM EST
TV: TSN 5, RADIO: TSN 1200
UPDATE: 1:00 PM ROSTERS
Les trios ce matin: MacArthur-Turris-Stone, Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan, Michalek-Pageau-Chiasson, Greening-Legwand-Condra. #Sens
— Sylvain St-Laurent (@Syl_St_Laurent) December 22, 2014
"First round of morning skate lines: 8-19-43, 90-92-20, 21-16-42, 25-46-83. Hillen’s with Green again on defense, Schmidt with Orlov.— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) December 22, 2014"
MATCHUP HISTORY
As cross conference opponents, these two will meet three times this season. In the first of three we haven’t seen these two play before. The Senators come in to town having made some recent changes and have struggled in the past month. The Caps have been hot, going 6-2-2 in their last 10.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Alexander Ovechkin, WSH – The easy choice, but “ovie” is coming in hot. Having scored a beauty in his last game, Ovechkin may have gained some confidence heading into this one.
Ovechkin has been one of the league’s best goal scorers for close to a decade, so don’t forget about him while he’s on the ice.
Alex Chiasson, OTT – I’m taking the other Alex on the ice tonight. I think the Condra – Pageau – Chiasson line was easily Ottawa’s best vs MTL and I think he has a big game if he’s found on that line. Chiasson had one of his better games as a Senator that night, as he controlled play on many occasions and generated a few scoring chances.
KEYS TO THE GAME
Contain Ovechkin – He’s the most dangerous player on the ice tonight, and although his defensive mis cues are heavily documented.. when he has the puck, something happens. He has his off nights, and nights where he looks like the best in the league.
What’s worse is that Ovechkin does not like the Ottawa Senators. In 31 career games vs the Senators, Ovechkin has posted 19 goals and 17 assists, good enough for 36 points. Look for him to control play tonight.
Get Scoring – Ottawa’s top two lines were hot against Anaheim, and cooled off against the Habs. Look for the Turris and Zibanejad lines to be a big factor in Ottawa’s success tonight.
We’ve seen what they can do when they are working.. let’s see if they work tonight.