12th West (11-8-4) VS. 10th East (11-13-1)
Your Ottawa Senators battle the San Jose Sharks tonight at Scotiabank Place with a 7:30 pm puck drop. All eyes of the nation will be on this game as it is Dany Heatley’s first game back in Ottawa since he demanded a trade out of the capital back in the summer of 2009.
With all the rumours about why Heatley demanded a trade, and the fan animosity towards him, this is easily the biggest game of the season so far for the Sens. Having lost seven of their last ten games, and being out scored in that stretch 33 – 17, Ottawa needs the win badly more than they need revenge for Heatley jumping ship.
Luckily for the Sens, the Sharks aren’t the high powered team they used to be. Having gone five and five in their last ten games, and being out scored 35 – 31 in that stretch.
The Sens will need to stay out of the box (which has been a major problem as of late), as San Jose has the 8th ranked powerplay in the league. And the Sens will need to shut down the big three of Heatley, Thornton and Marleau to have any success against the Sharks.
The Sens will need to jump on the Sharks defence early and get a lot of pucks to the net as San Jose does not have steady goaltending and a steady back-end in general. Look for Pascal Leclaire to start the game and for Chris Neil to try to take Heatley’s head off early to get the crowd into a frenzy.
Check back here at SenShot for a game report after the game. Enjoy the game and GO SENS GO!!!!!
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