Gameday #3: Islanders @ Senators

7:00 PM ET

Sportsnet East

FanSided Enemy: None

The Ottawa Senators open their home stand of the season against Johnny Tavares and the lowly New York Islanders. Last season, the Isles shocked many and took the season series 3-1. All 3 wins by the Islanders had Joey MacDonald in net, however, he’s now in the barren field of Toronto. Martin Biron will get the start for New York while Ottawa counters with Pascal Leclaire. We will also see the debut of Rob Schremp in an Isles uniform.

Of course, we always think this will be a lopsided game. I think so too. We saw last year that was wrong. Still, Ottawa not only had the advantage on every aspect of the game, but it woud be very hard for the Islanders to even chip in some goals past the hot Leclaire. Tavares plays on a line with Kyle Okposo and Joshua Bailey while Schremp will play with Doug Weight and Sean Bergenheim. The lines for Ottawa will be the same as on Tuesday, with both Ryan Shannon and Filip Kuba out.

If Biron plays fantastic and Tavares takes over, then the Isles have a fighting chance. Still, I’d have to go with…

Senators 5 (Kovalev, Ruutu, Cheechoo, Karlsson, Alfredsson)
Islanders 2 (Tavares, Tavares)