Ottawa Senators Host The Edmonton Oilers

The Ottawa Senators host the Edmonton Oilers in an afternoon game on February 14th, 2015. The Senators sit 11 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot. The Oilers are dead last in the Western Conference. The Senators are coming off a late surge where they took the Pittsburgh Penguins to overtime off of two quick goals. This is a must win game if the Senators want to keep their extremely slim playoff hopes alive.

(16-31-9, 41 pts) 7th in Pacific Division

VS

(21-22-10, 52 pts) 6th in Atlantic Division

2:00 PM

Canadian Tire Centre, Kanata, Ontario

TV/RADIO: CBC,TVA,SN

MATCH-UP HISTORY

This is the second time the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers face off. The first meeting between the teams was on November 13th, 2014. Ottawa won the game in Overtime 4-3. The previous match up saw the Senators launch 37 shots at Ben Scrivens. Mike Hoffman scored 2 goals in the previous match up.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

 Mike Hoffman OTT – Hoffman leads the Senators with 18 goals. He has been very impressive on offense this season. He scored a goal in the Senators last game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Jordan Eberle EDM – Jordan Eberle leads the Oilers in goals with 15. Eberle is one of the Oilers corps who has been subject to criticism this year. The Oilers will have to rely on him and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to lead the charge against the Senators.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Soft Competition –The Senators have in no way been amazing this year. However they have been better than the Oilers during even strength play. The Oilers are second worst in the league in goal differential with -45 . They have allowed 45 more even strength goals then they have scored. It is important for the Senators to dominate even strength play. If they can’t defeat the Oilers things are looking pretty dim. The Oilers have proven to be the Montreal Canadiens kryptonite. They can clearly beat the odd “good” team. Who knows what will happen.
2. Karlsson– Since Dave Cameron has taken over Erik Karlsson averages 27.4 minutes of ice time a game. The Senators captain is always on the ice. It is important that the time he spends on the ice is useful and effective. It would be a huge momentum gain for the Senators if Karlsson can not only contribute offensively, but also help to keep the score down. Karlsson’s even strength CF% is 52, which I feel could be slightly higher.
3. Goalscoring-Only four Senators have five or more goals at even strength since December 8^th, when Dave Cameron took over. Those forwards are Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Bobby Ryan. The non forward is Karlsson. It would be nice to see other Senators step their game up and get onto the score sheet during even strength play. I would personally like to see a strong game from Kyle Turris.