Ottawa Senators Continue Playoff Chase Against Ovechkin, Capitals

After pulling off an exciting overtime win against Tampa Bay, the Ottawa Senators must prepare to face the red-hot Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. It’s another must-win situation for the Senators as they sit 3 points back of the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings for a playoff spot.

Ottawa: 39-26-6-6

Washington: 43-25-6-4

7:00 PM EST

Canadian Tire Centre

Ottawa, Ontario

TV: Sportsnet; Radio: TSN 1200

MATCH-UP HISTORY

This will be the third and final meeting of the season between the Senators and Capitals. Washington has won both of the previous two meetings by scores of 2-1. Kyle Turris and Erik Condra scored Ottawa’s goals while Jay Beagle, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Mike Green, and Marcus Johansson all have 2 points against the Senators this season. Brayden Holtby was in net for both Capitals wins, posting a 1.00 GAA and .969 save percentage in the process.

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PLAYERS TO WATCH

ALEX OVECHKIN, WAS: Did you really have to ask? Ovechkin has been dominant again this season, leading the league in goals with 52, and is 9 goals ahead of the next highest scoring player. He also has 20 goals and 37 points in 33 career games against the Senators.

MARK STONE, OTT: Stone was stellar again on Thursday against Tampa Bay, scoring the opening goal and assisting on Patrick Wiercioch’s overtime winner. His 56 points so far this season are already the third highest total by a Senators rookie, behind only Daniel Alfredsson‘s 61 and Alexei Yashin‘s 79. Ottawa will need Stone to continue his dominant play to keep pace in the playoff race.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. BIG GUNS MUST STEP UP: Bobby Ryan and Mika Zibanejad have been struggling of late, and are both pointless against Washington this season. While the Senators have managed to notch wins thanks to others stepping up, these two breaking out would be a major boon to the team’s playoff hopes, especially given Ottawa’s offensive struggles against Washington in their last 2 losses. Additionally, Erik Karlsson and Clarke MacArthur, who has 3 points in 4 games since returning from a concussion, have also been held pointless against the Capitals thi year. That needs to change.

2. THIRD PAIRING STRUGGLES: The Senators’ third defensive pairing of Eric Gryba and Mark Borowiecki is strong physically, but are lacking in other areas. Those include puck movement and retrieval. When they’re out on the ice, the puck is usually in the Senators’ end and they’re running around trying to keep up. Coach Dave Cameron must manage their deployment better, especially against the likes of Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

3. CUTTING DOWN THE PENALTY PARADE: In their last two games, the Senators have taken a combined 10 minor penalties, many of them due to lazy plays. That cannot continue. Ottawa needs to work on its positioning and controlling their emotions or risk facing Washington’s league leading powerplay, which is operating at 25.3 percent overall and 23.6 percent on the road.

PROJECTED LINE-UPS

According to the Ottawa Senators’ website, the projected lineups are:

SENATORS

Forwards

Clarke MacArthur – Kyle Turris – Mark Stone

Zack Smith – Mika Zibanejad – Bobby Ryan

Erik Condra – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Curtis Lazar

Mike Hoffman – David Legwand – Alex Chiasson

Defence

Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson

Patrick Wiercioch – Cody Ceci

Mark Borowiecki – Eric Gryba

Goaltenders

Andrew Hammond

Craig Anderson

Scratches/Injuries: Chris Phillips, Chris Neil, Colin Greening, Jared Cowen, Milan Michalek, Matt Puempel

CAPITALS

Forwards

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Joel Ward

Marcus Johansson – Nicklas Backstrom – Troy Brouwer

Brooks Laich – Eric Fehr – Jason Chimera

Curtis Glencross – Michael Latta – Tom Wilson

Defence

Brooks Orpik – John Carlson

Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen

Tim Gleason – Mike Green

Goaltenders

Braden Holtby

Justin Peters

Scratches/Injuries: Jay Beagle, Dmitry Orlov, John Erskine

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the game!

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