Here’s something most fans would admit they weren’t likely hear this season: the Ottawa Senators come into this tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs as one of the hottest teams in the league.
Ottawa: 4-1-0
VS
Toronto: 3-3-1
7:00pm
Canadian Tire Centre
Ottawa
TV: Sportsnet 1, Radio: TSN 1200, Streaming on Gamecenter GamePlus
Matchup History
This is the first meeting of the two teams this year. Ottawa won the last matchup of 2014 by a score of 1-0, but lost the previous three with two of those coming by way of the shootout.
Last Games
The Sens are coming in having won four in a row on the backs of their goaltenders and some timely offence.
After a season opening loss to the Nashville Predators the Senators went on to best the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and most recently the Columbus Blue Jackets. They look to keep the streak alive tonight against the Leafs and make it five Ws in a row — which incidentally enough is how the team finished off the last five games of the 2013-14 season.
The Leafs have yet to find a rhythm this season and after losing back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings, but then beating the New York Islanders yesterday.
Their goaltending has been fairly pedestrian, with James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier both posting .906 save percentages before Tuesday’s game. To go along with this, four weeks into the season 13 players on the Maple Leafs (Kessel, Gardiner and Kozun the worst at -4) were stuck in the minuses — highlighting the Leafs’ poor defensive play.
Players to Watch
Jake Gardiner — Carlyle and Gardiner’s relationship has been an up and down affair ever since the talented defenseman arrived from Anaheim in 2011. Gardiner’s already found himself in the press box this season and with a -4 and only one point in four games surely he must know why. He needs to get his act together and get in Carlyle’s good books, so look for him to come out strong in this one.
Mika Zibanejad — For most of the off-season and pre-season Zibanejad had been anointed the team’s second line centre, but he’s now pointless in five games and at times has looked listless on the ice. He came in bigger than last season, and although he has yet to play a full 82 game season he does have 125 NHL games under his belt, so more was expected of him coming in. It’s only five games, but Zibanejad is going to have to conjure up some points if he hopes to keep a hold on the second line centre spot with players like Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Curtis Lazar waiting in the wings (in Lazar’s case quite literally).
3 Story-lines for the Game
Learning From the Past — Ottawa’s had the puck luck to start the season, but they need only look at their Ontario rivals’ play last season to see where constantly being outshot and relying on goaltending to steal you games all season gets you in the standings. As most Senators fans know (and certainly relish) the Maple Leafs collapsed epically last year, and the Senators would look mighty foolish if they ended up in the same position as last year’s Leafs.
Beginning the Battle — This is the 2014-15 season’s first instance of the Battle of Ontario, so look for the two teams to feel things out and set the tone for the games to come. Although preseason is mostly meaningless, here’s hoping that Ottawa’s two split-squad wins in September is a sign of things to come.
Back to Back Slack — The Leafs are coming in having played just yesterday, so it’s imperative that the Senators don’t give them any slack and take advantage of what is hopefully a tired team.
I’ll be at the game, so here’s hoping for a resounding Sens win and and extra sweet 3 game home winning streak!
As always, Go Sens Go!