The Ottawa Senators will be looking to sweep the California segment of their road trip as they take on the Sharks tonight in San Jose, California.
Ottawa: 26-23-5-5
San Jose: 30-24-3-5
10:00 PM EST
SAP Center at San Jose
San Jose, California
TV: Sportsnet; Radio: TSN 1200
MATCH-UP HISTORY
This will be the first of two meetings between the Sharks and Senators this season, with the second set for March 23rd in Ottawa. Last season, the Sharks took both contests by scores of 3-2 on October 10th in San Jose and 5-2 in Ottawa. Erik Karlsson and former-Senators captain Jason Spezza led the way for Ottawa with 2 points each against the Sharks, while seven San Jose players notched 2 points on their own against the Senators. Among those Sharks were then-rookie Tomas Hertl (2 goals) and former Ottawa 67s star Logan Couture (2 assists).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
JOE PAVELSKI, SJS: The Sharks centre leads the team with 56 points and is tied for fourth in the NHL with 31 goals. Not bad for the 205th overall pick in the heralded 2003 draft. Pavelski is not only a dynamic offensive player, but also solid in his own end of the ice. Whichever Senators centre ends up going head-to-head with him in the game will be in tough. Not that it gets any easier for the next guy having to go up against Joe Thornton.
ANDREW HAMMOND, OTT: The Hambugler, called this for the character appearing on his mask, has been a great surprise for the Senators. He’s won each of his first four career starts in the NHL and has a 1.15 GAA and .962 save percentage in five appearances this season. While he’s been lucky with some bounces going his way, and the Senators’ defence has done a better job recently clearing away rebounds than they had early in the season, there’s no denying Hammond has made some impressive saves when he’s had to. He’ll need to keep that going against a Sharks team that’s fighting for their playoff lives.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
CAN THE HAMBURGLER STEAL ANOTHER?: As mentioned above, Andrew Hammond has been solid in his four starts this season. That being said, this he’s still the goalie with a .898 save percentage 3.51 GAA in the AHL this season. He was better last season with a .910 SVP and 2.81 GAA, but he wasn’t lighting the world on fire. How long can Hammond keep riding this wave of good play in the NHL? That remains to be seen, but with the Boston Bruins winning last night, pushing the Senators to 7 points back of the East’s final wild card spot, Ottawa will need Hammond to keep going strong if they want their unlikely playoff hopes to stay alive.
WAVE AFTER WAVE: The Senators have been getting consistent production from all across their lineup during this four game winning streak, and that will need to continue against a desperate team with as much forward depth as the Sharks. San Jose currently has 68 points and sits just 3 back of the surging Minnesota Wild for the West’s final wild card spot, with the Calgary Flames also ahead of them at 70 points. The Sharks are a team constantly expected to contend for a championship, so the Senators better be prepared to face an early onslaught as San Jose tries to keep up in its own playoff race, one that’s much more realistic than the Senators’.
D-DAY APPROACHES: This will be the Senators’ last game before the 2015 trade deadline on March 2nd. Rumours have been swirling around several players on the roster, from the likes of the currently injured Chris Phillips and Chris Neil to healthy role players like Erik Condra and David Legwand. Will the looming deadline impact the play of those still healthy? Perhaps. Condra has been very impressive of late, having just had a 5 game point streak snapped by the Los Angeles Kings. However, Senators General Manager Bryan Murray has said winning all three games in California won’t change his mind and convince him to be a buyer at the deadline, which is the right thing to do for the franchise long-term. Therefore, we could be seeing the last game as a member of the Senators for several players right as the team is playing its best hockey of the season.
PROJECTED LINE-UPS
#Sens coach Cameron confirms that the 🍔🍔🍔 will start in goal. Lazar (illness) will not play; Puempel enters the lineup in his place.
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 28, 2015
As per the Senators’ website, the rosters will be:
SENATORS:
FORWARDS
Mike Hoffman – Mika Zibanejad – Bobby Ryan
Milan Michalek – Kyle Turris – Mark Stone
Colin Greening – David Legwand – Alex Chiasson
Erik Condra – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Matt Puempel
DEFENCE
Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson
Patrick Wiercioch – Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki – Eric Gryba
GOALIES
Andrew Hammond
Chris Driedger
SCRATCHED: Criag Anderson, Robin Lehner, Jared Cowen, Clarke MacArthur, Chris Neil, Chris Phillips, Curtis Lazar.
SHARKS:
FORWARDS
Tomas Hertl – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Melker Karlsson
Tommy Wingels – James Sheppard – Matt Nieto
Tye McGinn – Andrew Desjardins – Barclay Goodrow
DEFENCE
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon – Justin Braun
Matt Irwin – Scott Hannan
GOALIES
Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock
SCRATCHED: Tyler Kennedy, John Scott, Mirco Mueller
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the game.