One night after an entertaining but ultimately disappointing loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Ottawa Senators head to Winnipeg to face the Jets. After it initially appeared that Craig Anderson would get the start, he revealed he wasn’t quite good to go, and Andrew Hammond will get his seventh consecutive start.
27-23-11
Ottawa Senators
VS.
Winnipeg Jets
32-20-12
7:30 PM EST
MTS Centre, Winnipeg
TV: Sportsnet, TVA
MATCHUP HISTORY
As these two teams are in separate conferences, they will only meet twice this year. The Jets took the first contest, 2-1 in a shootout in Ottawa back in November.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Mika Zibanejad, OTT- On this road trip, Zibanejad has faced Ryan Getzlaf, Anze Kopitar, Joe Thornton, and Mikko Koivu. Despite that, he has looked great and he has two goals and two assists in those games. Ever since his early season struggles, he has gotten better and better, and this road trip has proved his value.
I think he can be the Senators number one centre, and having Kyle Turris behind him isn’t too bad of a one-two combo. Watch to see how he fares against Bryan Little on the top line tonight.
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Tyler Myers, WPG- Ever since the Evander Kane trade that brought Myers (amongst others) to Winnipeg, the media has talked about how well he was played in his new city. He’s a massive defenseman, and there’s always been hype around him because he can score and produce massive hits. However, ever since his Calder rookie season he has looked awful. Granted, he played in Buffalo, but the eye test and the stats were not encouraging.
I’d be interested to see if he actually does look different on this Winnipeg team, or if he’s still losing puck battles from a player that started 10 feet behind him.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. K. I. S. S– Aka, “keep it simple, stupid.” This is something that hockey coaches say all the time, and it can be applicable to tonight’s game. I’m sure everyone is tired, as it’s been a long road trip. They are playing for the second time in as many nights, and apparently the sick bug is going around the room. It’s straightforward to say, but it makes sense. Don’t try to do anything amazing, just keep it simple and protect the net.
2. Utilize the top six- The top six forwards on Ottawa right now of Turris, Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Bobby Ryan, and Milan Michalek (which would usually be Clarke MacArthur) are clearly the reason that they can stay in games. It’s quite a formidable group actually, and they have produced very well over this stretch of a few weeks. Besides them though, there isn’t going to be much offense. The Erik Condra/JG Pageau/Curtis Lazar trio has played great, but they are more of a shutdown defensive line. When the top six is rolling (and getting ice time), the team plays well. It’s that simple.
3. Different power play lines- Why is Alex Chiasson and David Legwand still on the power play? I don’t understand how this is still something that happens. If the proper lines can be uses on the power play, that could be the difference between winning and losing. Basically, how Dave Cameron uses his lineup tonight will be crucial during the last game of a long road trip.
If Ottawa can pull away with a win, their playoff hopes look a bit better. But with a loss they will be six points out with zero games in hand. Safe to say this is a massive game.