Game Day Five: Senators at Blackhawks, Mar. 6
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
Decemeber 20, 2016, that was the last time the Ottawa Senators beat the Chicago Blackhawks, in a 4-3 game at United Center. Though Chicago has been on the winning side for the last nine, rarely have the games been a wash, with five games being decided by one goal and four going to overtime or a shootout.
Carrying a five-game win streak into tonight the Senators will look to end Chicago's streak here tonight. The goals have been coming in bunches of late with 12 different goal scorers over the last five games. It's a different group stepping up every night it seems, led by the usual stellar play of the top line of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Claude Giroux who have combined for 10 goals and 12 assists over this stretch. However, last game against Columbus it was the defence creating offence, with Travis Hamonic logging his first career multi-goal game and Jakob Chychrun adding his first as a Senator. Other nights it's been the bottom six forwards contributing with Austin Watson and Derick Brassard both having multi-goal nights against Detroit and New York respectively.
Chicago is another one of those teams that you have to ignore where they are in the standings because they can punch. Look no further than the five-game stretch from February 17th to February 25th when Chicago took down the Senators, Maple Leafs, Stars, Golden Knights and Sharks in succession. This team brings it against the league's best night after night. Since the last time these two faced off, Chicago has traded away star Patrick Kane and announced that Jonathan Toews will be away from the team as he tends to his health. All that said, Chicago will surely bring it tonight!
Roster notes
The line-ups will be updated following this morning's practice at United Center however, below is how the Senators lined up against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Canadian Tire Centre:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Stützle - Giroux
DeBrincat - Pinto - Batherson
Joseph - Gambrell - Gauthier
Brassard - Kastelic - Watson
Defense:
Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Hamonic
Chychrun - Brannstrom
Five-game win streak
The Senators bring a five-game win streak into tonight's contest, the longest streak since they won six in a row in March 2017. The team had a lot of ground to make up in the playoff race in November however they have turned on the overdrive thrusters to now sit just three points out of the playoffs.
The win-streak kicked off in Montreal, sweeping the season series against the Canadiens in a 5-2 affair. Then came the biggest challenge, a back-to-back at Canadian Tire Centre against the Detroit Red Wings who at the time sat four points up on the Senators, not to mention that would make it four game in five days. No issues for the Senators as they took care of Detroit handily with a 6-2 win followed up the next night by a 6-1 win. Following a massive trade deadling move to acquire Jakob Chychrun, the Senators travelled to New York to face the rangers, one of the hottest teams in hockey. It took the full 60 minutes, but the Senators flew home with a 5-3 victory before hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets where they fairly easily grabbed a 5-2 win.
If you add that all up the Senators have outscored their opponents 27-10 across this streak. Perhaps the best hockey we've seen in Ottawa since the 2017 playoff run.
Who to watch
Making his first return to United Center since the Senators acquired him via trade last summer, Alex DeBrincat is set to make some noise tonight. Coming into tonight DeBrincat has 20 goals and 34 assists for 54 points, just three points away from hitting his third highest point total of his career with 20 games left to play! Additionally, he has tallied a point in each game of the Senators five-game win streak, putting up six points in those five games.
Where to watch
Monday's game can be seen live on TSN5 and RDS. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
