After being off for two days, November has now arrived for the Ottawa Senators. The Senators finished October strong with an impressive 8-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night at home.
The Senators concluded October with a 5-4-0 record and will play their first game in November against a team looking to rebound from a loss on Tuesday night, the New York Rangers. Heading into tonight, the Senators will need to have an "Empire State Of Mind" against one of the top teams in the NHL in one of the toughest atmospheres to play in as a road team.
Senators begin November in NYC against Rangers
The Senators travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Rangers in New York City with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The Senators lost the season series 1-2-0 against the Rangers last season, and have lost six of their last nine games against the Rangers.
Tuesday night against the Blues was an absolute domination by the Senators offense. Throughout all of October, the Senators offense was unstoppable with consistency and it ended with scoring 25 goals over the past five games. Consistency needs to be continued over into a new month for the Senators.
On Tuesday night, Claude Giroux extended his point streak to seven games, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk each recorded two goals, and Stutzle added two assists to have a four-point game. Drake Batherson recorded a two-assist game and Adam Gaudette recorded his second two-goal game of the season. Ten different Senators recorded a +2 rating or better.
As for the Rangers, they enter tonight with a 6-2-1 record. After starting off the season 5-0-1, the Rangers lost two of their last three games to finish October. In their most recent game on Tuesday against the Washington Capitals on the road, they fell 5-3.
To no one's surprise, Artemi Panarin is at it again with leading the Rangers in goals with six, assists with nine, and points with 15. After Panarin's 15 points, Will Cuylle Vincent Trochek, Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Fox are all tied for the second most points on the team with eight.
The Senators defense will have a tough match up against a high powered offense. Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and the rest of the defense will have their hands full against a Rangers team that can score from all angles. With a current 1-3-0 road record, the Senators need to find ways to win on the road to prevent falling in the standings.