GAMEDAY PREVIEW #67: Ottawa Senators @ Edmonton Oilers
The Ottawa Senators close out their western road trip tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Ottawa Senators are hoping to close out this disastrous road trip with a win to bring their record to 2-3-0 instead of 1-4-0 as playoff hopes begin to fade away. Here is your SenShot Gameday Preview:
Ottawa Senators (33-29-4, 70 pts) @ Edmonton Oilers (36-23-8, 80 pts)
Time: 9 pm EST
Where To Watch: TSN5, SNW, RDS2
Where To Listen: TSN1200
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Ottawa Senators Notes
The Senators have lost back-to-back games in their western road trip, and chances at playoffs seem less likely than just a week ago, if the Senators want to sneak their way into the post season tonight must be considered a “must-win”
Scoreboard watching: The best possible scenario for the Ottawa Senators playoff hopes are that Pittsburgh Penguins lose to the Montreal Canadiens tonight, and New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, with each matchup ending in regulation. A bonus would be if the Detroit Red Wings lost their game tonight against the Nashville Predators. All of this paired with a Senators win tonight would mean that they would climb two spots in the wild card race without anyone else climbing at the same time.
Forward Tim Stützle was on a 3 game goalless drought until he scored against the Calgary Flames on Sunday’s loss. While he hasn’t potted as many goals, he’s still finding his way on the scoresheet as he scored 4 assists in those combined 3 games. In 62 games this year, he has scored 32 goals and 39 assists for 71 points. He is certainly having a breakout season as he is on pace for 94 points.
It is expected that the lineup will see a shakeup tonight as injuries to Thomas Chabot, Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly occurred last game against the Flames. DJ Coach said that Chabot and Kelly would be game-time decisions, but it is doubtful they will play tonight. Not much has been released on either injury other than they both attended today’s practice very briefly. Jakob Chychrun skated in Chabot’s place with Artem Zub on the first pair.
The Ottawa Senators have had to rely on rookie goaltenders Mads Sogaard and Kevin Mandolese as injuries to Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg have given playoff hope responsibilities to the rookies. Neither goalie has been bad, but they’ve each allowed 5 goals on numerous occasions.
Claude Giroux is currently sitting at 989 career NHL points. He is 11 points away from 1000 and with 15 games left in the season, the chances he hits 1000 by the end of the season are increasing.
No announcement yet, but expect Mads Sogaard to start in net tonight.
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Edmonton Oilers Notes
Connor McDavid is having a historic season. So far in 67 games, he has scored 55 goals and 72 assists for 127 points. He has more assists than anyone on the Senators has points. He is on pace for over 150 points and would be the first player to crack these totals since Mario Lemieux did it in 1995-96. He is also the first player to record back-to-back 120 point seasons since Mario Lemieux did it in that same season.
The Oilers recently lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, falling 7-4.
Mathias Ekholm scored his first goal with the Edmonton Oilers in that loss to the Maple Leafs.
Stuart Skinner will get the start tonight. In 39 games this season, he has a record of 19-14-4 and has a Save Percentage of .911 and a Goals Against Average of 2.92
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Ottawa Senators Lines
Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Drake Batherson
Alex DeBrincat – Shane Pinto – Claude Giroux
Derick Brassard – Dylan Gambrell – Julien Gauthier
Mark Kastelic – Patrick Brown – Austin Watson
Jake Chychrun – Artem Zub
Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic
Erik Brannstorm – Nick Holden
Mads Sogaard
Kevin Mandolese
Edmonton Oilers Lines
Evander Kane – Connor McDavid – Zach Hyman
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Leon Draisaitl – Kailer Yamomoto
Warren Foegele – Nick Bjugstad – Mattias Janmark
Devin Shore – Ryan McLeod – Derek Ryan
Darnell Nurse – Cody Ceci
Mattias Ekholm – Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak – Vincent Desharnais
Stuart Skinner
Jack Campbell