GAMEDAY PREVIEW #70: Ottawa Senators @ Pittsburgh Penguins
The Ottawa Senators are set to face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins
After Saturday’s loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada, the Ottawa Senators are set to face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Here is your SenShot Gameday Preview:
Ottawa Senators (33-31-5, 71 pts) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (34-25-10, 78 pts)
When: 7pm EST
Where To Watch: SNE. SNO, SNW, RDS
Where To Listen: TSN1200
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Ottawa Senators Notes
Tonight is an absolute must-win for the Senators as they are facing off against one of the many teams in the running for the wildcard spots. The Pittsburgh Penguins currently hold the second wildcard spot.
Season Series: Tonight marks the third and final matchup between these two teams, so far each team has won one game.
Scoreboard Watching: The best possible situation for the Ottawa Senators would be if they won in regulation against the Penguins, and if the Florida Panthers lose to the Detroit Red Wings in regulation.
In his last five games, Tim Stutzle has 10 points. He has scored 4 goals and 6 assists. Against Toronto, he scored one goal and one assist. He has been Ottawa’s best player in the last stretch and amongst the best players for the team all season. He is currently on a 6-game-point streak where he has scored 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points.
Captain Brady Tkachuk scored his 29th and 30th goals of the season against the Maple Leafs on Sunday. It is the second year in a row that the Ottawa Senators have more than one thirty-goal-scorer. The last time this happened was in 2011-12 when Milan Michalek scored 35 goals and Jason Spezza scored 34.
Head Coach DJ Smith has announced that there will be no changes in the lineup, but goaltending has not yet been announced. Expect Mads Sogaard to play either tonight or tomorrow, Dylan Ferguson will likely play one of the two games.
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Pittsburgh Penguins Notes
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost against the New York Rangers on Saturday and have lost three games in a row. They are looking to take advantage of tonight to both snap the losing streak and gain some ground on the wildcard race.
Captain Sidney Crosby leads the team in points with 83. it is his 18th season in a row where he has established a minimum of being point-per-game. He has not had one season in the NHL without being point-per-game.
Newcomer Mikael Granlund has scored 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points in his first 8 games with the Penguins. He was acquired from the Nashville Predators ahead of the Trade Deadline in exchange for a second-round pick this season.
Expect Tristan Jarry to start in net tonight. In 38 games this season, he has gone 20-9-6 and has a save percentage of .907 and a goals-against average of 3.03.
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Ottawa Senators Lines
Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Drake Batherson
Alex DeBrincat – Ridly Greig – Claude Giroux
Derick Brassard – Shane Pinto – Julien Gauthier
Patrick Brown – Dylan Gambrell – Austin Watson
Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub
Jake Chychrun – Travis Hamonic
Thomas Chabot – Erik Brannstrom
Mads Sogaard
Dylan Ferguson
Pittsburgh Penguins Lines
Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Jason Zucker – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Drew O’Connor – Mikael Granlund – Alex Nylander
Ryan Poehling – Jeff Carter – Josh Archibald
P.O Joseph – Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin – Chad Ruhwedel
Mark Friedman – Taylor Fedun
Tristan Jarry
Casey DeSmith