Game Day Five: Avalanche vs Senators, Feb. 24
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
The Senators are back at Canadian Tire Centre for the first time after a long five-game road trip. The road trip did not go the way the team thought it would, and they look to right the ship here tonight against the Stanley Cup champions Colorado Avalanche.
The Senators will look to take advantage of this Colorado team coming in off a game last night in Toronto. Even with a recent slide in their Western Conference road trip, the Senators are still firmly in the playoff race, currently sitting eight points out of the Wild Card spot with a couple of games in hand. The Senators will shake their lines up tonight with a few additions to the team. Ridly Greig is set to slide in between Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, leaving an open spot on the top line that Drake Batherson is likely to lot into. A new look to the offence could likely spark something here as the Senators will look to get back to their high scoring ways from before the road trip when they were averaging 5.2 goals per game.
Having gone 6-3-1 over their last 10, Colorado comes into tonight trending in the right direction as they seek a repeat Stanley Cup appearance. With three point per game scorers in star forwards Nathan MacKinnon with 82 points in 55 games and Mikko Rantanen with 79 points in 66 games, as well as defenceman Cale Makar with 56 points in 53 games, this team is a lot to handle. With Alexandar Georgiev playing last night against Toronto, Pavel Francouz is expected to start in net tonight, having gone 6-4 in his last ten starts.
Roster notes
The Senators recalled forward Ridly Greig from Belleville yesterday evening. Below is how the Senators lined up at morning skate at Canadian Tire Centre:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Stützle - Batherson
DeBrincat - Greig - Giroux
Brassard - Pinto - Brown
Gauthier - Gambrell - Watson
Kastelic
Defense:
Chychrun - Hamonic
Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Brannstrom
Holden
Marvel Superhero Night
For those in attendance at Canadian Tire Centre tonight the Superhero's will be out and about to help celebrate. Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Spiderman and Thor will all be in attendance for fans to see tonight! Additionally, the first 10,000 fans to arrive will get a custom Senators themed comic book poster to commemorate the evening. Lastly, the game will kick off with a fun Marvel themed intro video and some Marvel themed videos on the jumbotron throughout the night.
Who to watch
Making his return to the line-up since being recalled from Belleville Ridly Greig has regained his confidence and is looking to make a statement. Playing alongside Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat again, Greig will have plenty of firepower around him as he skates in his 12th game with the Senators. Thus far in his NHL career he has one goal and three assists and has gone plus two. In his 35 games with Belleville this season Greig has 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 total points. As with every other player who has been recalled from Belleville, their confidence tends to grow and their game continues to expand each time. Expect that to be no different for Greig here tonight and the rest of his tenure with the Senators this season.
Where to watch
For those not at Canadian Tire Centre, Thursday's game can be seen live on TSN5 and RDS2. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
