Ottawa Senators In Denver, Set To Take On Avalanche

Marc Methot is set to play tonight vs Colorado, and while the final lineup hasn’t been set; signs point to Curtis Lazar making his return as well. Here’s the pre-game thoughts piece for Ottawa vs Colorado.

16-15-7

Ottawa Senators

VS

16-16-8
Colorado Avalanche

7:00 pm
Pepsi Center, Denver
TV: RDSI, TSN5, Radio: TSN 1200

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Alex Tanguay, COL – Alex Tanguay continues to lead this team in scoring, and at 34, it’s crazy to think he’s ahead of players like Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene, and Nathan Mackinnon. If Tanguay plays anything like he has through the first 40 games.. look out

Mike Hoffman, Ottawa – We chose him last game, and after that goal he scored.. we choose him again. At this point, Hoffman has made a name for himself around the league and is on pace for a 30-goal season. Watch for the Hoff.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Goaltending – The Senators are set to go up against one of the league’s best in Semyon Varlamov. 2014’s Vezina Trophy winner has had an iffy start to the season and has post numbers that aren’t great. He’s coming off a 54-save Shutout worthy performance and should give Colorado a chance to win.

2. Marc Methot – After having a shaky game in Binghamton and being re-called after his conditioning stint, Methot is set to play his third game of the year and his 400th of his career. The UFA talk will never end with Methot; who has the chance to be a healthy player here on out for Ottawa.

3. Star-Power – Look at Colorado’s lineup. You’ll see Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Ryan O’Rielly, and Nathan Mackinnon. As players who are all capable to control the ice, do not take their skills lightly and look for every one of them to be impactful players throughout the game.

Lineups:

Interesting stuff here, Lazar hadn’t skated with the team since coming back from the world juniors and Dean Brown reported he was “bag-skated” at practice.

We are seeing the first time in which Dave Cameron has begun to sit players. We saw Mark Stone, Colin Greening, and David Legwand were sat during Ottawa’s game vs PHI.