The Ottawa Senators enter the second half of a back to back tonight against the up-jump Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Ottawa Senators will be looking to bounce back after a terrible performance against Chicago Blackhawks in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Forward
The Sens are expected to use 12 forwards tonight. They will be: Ryan Dzingel, Derick Brassard, Mark Stone, Zack Smith, Matt Duchene, Mike Hoffman, Tom Pyatt, Filip Chlapik, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Alex Burrows, Colin White, and Gabriel Dumont.
Defence
On defence the Sens will likely use six defencemen. They will be: Thomas Chabot, Erik Karlsson, Dion Phaneuf, Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, and Fredrik Claesson.
Goal
It’s expected that Craig Anderson will get the start tonight after both goalies played half the game last night.
The Situation At Hand
The Ottawa Senators are in a position where it may be time to tank. Meaning that they should consider selling off their older players on short term contracts for draft picks and younger players to get better for the future. It’s a difficult position to be in, but the Ottawa Senators are at a point where they no longer have a realistic chance of making the playoffs. Players such as Burrows, and Oduya may fetch mid round draft picks which at this point are more valuable to the team than the players themselves. This will allow the Sens the bring in younger players to get experience for the coming seasons.
Next: Ottawa Senators Embarrassed By Chicago Blackhawks
A Game Worth Winning
Despite all this I think all Ottawa Senators fans would agree that even if we are in tank mode, if there’s one team that we’d still like to beat it would be the Toronto Maple Leafs.