Game Day: OTT @ VAN

14th East (17-28-8)  VS.  1st West (34-10-9)

Your Ottawa Senators continue their four-game road trip tonight with a match-up against the league’s best team, the Vancouver Canucks. With Ottawa on a nine game losing skid while the Canucks have won five in a row, both teams are headed in different directions with Van-city preparing for a long playoff run, while Ottawa just wants to get this season over with as quick as possible. Lucky for Ottawa, this game will be a late game this side of the Rookies and Sens fans won’t have to watch their team get destroyed.

Coming off a loss against the Islanders, Ottawa now sits 28th in the league, just four points out of dead last. And with Vancouver having the best home record combined with Ottawa having one of the worst away records, this game has the potential to be a blowout. The last time these two teams met in November, the Canucks skated away with a 6-2 victory.

Players to Watch

Ottawa – Alex Kovalev  has been on fire since the All-Star break. With a goal in each of his last three games, and five points in that stretch, Kovi looks like he realized he needs to produce to earn a contract next year. Hopefully he keeps it up and a team gets desperate at the trade deadline and picks him up for a copy of his DVD.

Vancouver – Ryan Kesler  is on pace for a career year. With 30 goals to name already, Kesler is on pace to get around 45 this year. With three goals in three games since the All-Star break, Kesler will look to increase his goal total against a weak Ottawa back-end.

Keys to an Ottawa Win

Goaltending – Ottawa will go with Brian Elliott tonight as he looks to increase his personal best 12 game losing streak. If there was ever a time for Elliott to get back on track, a win against the best team in the league would do it.

Defense – With the Sedin twins and Kesler, Ottawa’s D-corps will have their hands full tonight. A game wth no major give-a-ways can be seen as a positive at this point in the season.

Coaching – Clouston has made some interesting decisions these last few weeks behind the bench. Tonight, with his inferior team up against the best team in the NHL, we’ll see what Clouston has up his sleeve.

Ottawa’s goal to reach first overall is in sight. With a loss tonight and Wednesday versus Calgary, the Toilet Bowl on Saturday for Hockey Day in Canada could be for first overall in this year’s draft depending the outcome of that Ottawa-Edmonton game. With the trade deadline 21 days away, all Sens are on showcase for the rest league tonight.

Check back here at SenShot for a game report after the game. Enjoy the game and GO SENS GO!!!!!

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