This past weekend, the Ottawa Senators earned two important wins against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Utah Hockey Club to improve to 26-20-4 on the season. Now after three days of rest, the Senators are back to work against the Washington Capitals.
Exactly two weeks ago, the Senators and Capitals played each other and had a hard fought overtime game, which resulted in a 1-0 win for the Capitals. As the second meeting of the season arrives, the Senators hope the second meeting results better than the first.
Sens host Caps for second time in two weeks
The Senators host the Capitals at Canadian Tire Centre with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
This past weekend, the Senators got solid goaltending play from Anton Forsberg and Leevi Merilainen. Forsberg allowed in one goal for the third consecutive start against the Maple Leafs to help the Senators earn a 2-1 win. The next day against Utah, Merilainen allowed in one goal to help the Senators earn a 3-1 win.
In the two games over the weekend, Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle each recorded three points. Giroux now has 1,099 points in his career. Jake Sanderson recorded two assists and Shane Pinto recorded one goal and an assist. Brady Tkachuk also scored a goal to end a 10-game goal drought and 10-game pointless streak.
As for the Capitals, they come into tonight's game with the best record in the NHL at 34-11-5. The Capitals have won seven of their last eight games with the most recent being a 3-1 win agains the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.
Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 22 goals; Dylan Strome leads the Capitals with 34 assists and 47 points; Aliaksei Protas is second on the Capitals with 21 goals and 42 points, and leads the team with a +29 rating.
When the Senators and Capitals played each other two weeks ago, Merilainen went toe-to-toe with Logan Thompson, one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. It took until 3:07 of overtime for Ovechkin to score the only goal of the game. Even in defeat, Merilainen made 25 saves against a high powered Capitals offense. Thompson recorded a 24-save shutout.