Game Day Five: Senators at Hurricanes, Apr. 4
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
The Senators have officially reached the do or die portion of the playoff race, sitting six points out of the playoffs with five games to play. A win tonight will keep them alive, a loss plus a Pittsburgh win over New Jersey will eliminate them from playoff contention. Of course, Carolina is about as formidable of an opponent as the Senators could possibly have to stay alive against, but moments like these are what players of the Senators character are absolutely made for.
Coming into tonight the Senators have been battling to the bitter end game after game. With an overtime win over Philadelphia, a tough 3-0 loss to division rival Toronto, followed by an overtime loss to Columbus, this group has been put to the test. As they look to right the ship and keep their season alive look to their leaders to come out all guns ablaze tonight. Led by Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Claude Giroux with 84, 78 and 72 points respectively this season.
Carolina surely needs no introduction as the second best team in the NHL with 107 points on the year. Led by forwards Martin Necas and Sebastian Aho with 68 and 64 points each as well as defenceman Brent Burns making the most of his first season in Carolina with 56 points. This group scores in bunches but are brutal to deal with with their dump and chase style of play, owning the forecheck battles. A last line of defence in the pairing of Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen with a 2.22 and 2.42 goals against average is a tough task for anyone to deal with, as they've shutout five opponents this season.
Expect this game to be a full 60 minute battle as the Senators fight to keep their season alive and Carolina looks to widen the gap between themselves and New Jersey for home ice advantage in the playoffs.
Roster notes
The Senators recalled forward Egor Sokolov from Belleville this morning. D.J. Smith mentioned in his pregame availability that there were some banged up bodies and as a result there will be some gametime decisions, however Egor Sokolov will line up tonight. Below is how the Senators lined up for morning skate at PNC Arena:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Stützle - Batherson
DeBrincat - Greig - Giroux
Joseph - Pinto - Sokolov
Brown - Kastelic - Watson
Gambrell - Gauthier
Defense:
Sanderson - Zub
Brannstrom - Holden
Kleven - Bernard-Docker
Past history
Tonight will be the 112th time these two organizations will face off. Thus far Carolina owns the regular season series 60-43 with eight additional ties. However, over the last eight games this battle has gone back and forth with each side winning four games. Of course, the last time these two saw each other about six weeks ago, Carolina came out on top with a 4-0 win.
Who to watch
Set to make his regular season debut Egor Sokolov is the player to watch tonight. It's been 427 days since Sokolov last laced up his skates for an NHL game. While he still is in search of his first NHL point, he has been padding the stat sheet in Belleville's hunt for the playoffs in the AHL. Over 67 games Sokolov has netted 19 goals and contributed 36 assists for 55 total points, helping make him an AHL All-star. Now making it two seasons in a row that Sokolov will get to test his stuff against the worlds best in the NHL, look for him to continue his strong play from the AHL and perhaps log that first NHL point tonight!
Where to watch
Tuesday'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.
