Game Day Notes: Game #56 - Sens @ Avalanche

It's a 9 p.m. start in Denver and we've got all the latest Sens' pre-game news and notes to get you ready for tonight's game against the Avalanche.

Line-up notes

Sens head coach D.J. Smith met with the media at the Pepsi Center earlier today and confirmed that he'll roll with the same game roster as Saturday's loss in Winnipeg. That means it's a milestone night for Mikkel Boedker who will skate in his 700th career NHL game this evening.

Smith is hoping to avoid a similar fate as a few days ago (more on that below) when his team rematches a red hot Avalanche squad tonight in Denver. The Sens struggled to register a shot on goal in the first 20 minutes on last week's contest but after some video review, Smith is confident his team can get off to a better start tonight.
"There are so many games in the NHL that you have to play game-to-game," said the coach. "I'm sure they're a better team on home ice, like usually we're really good on our home ice, and I rewatched that first period again yesterday and for as much as we didn't have much going on, I think they only had one or two chances so we were better than I thought. We just didn't get any pucks to the net."

No confirmation yet on who will start in goal for the Senators tonight but I'd say it's probable that Marcus Hogberg (2-4-7) gets the nod in net against the Avalanche. Hogberg came in in relief of Craig Anderson (7-13-2) on Saturday for the final frame against the Jets and stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced.
And here's a look at the Sens' projected line-up for tonight:
Tkachuk - Pageau - C.Brown
Namestnikov - Tierney - Batherson
Paul - Anisimov - Duclair
Ennis - White - Boedker
Chabot - DeMelo
Reilly - Zaitsev
Hainsey - Goloubef

Power play improving

The Sens have struggled on the man advantage for the bulk of 2019-20 but have seen their fortunes on the power play trend upwards lately. Despite a 14.8% power play efficiency this season (good for 30th in the NHL), Ottawa has more than doubled that rate over the past two weeks going 6 for 20 (30%) and highlighted by a 3 power play goal game against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 28th.
Mike Reilly leads the Sens in power play points (1G, 3A) over that same 6-game span while Thomas Chabot's 10 assists on the man advantage give him the team lead in power play production on the season.

Previous meeting

These teams last met just 5 days ago in Ottawa where the visiting Avalanche would secure a 4-1 victory at Canadian Tire Centre. Brady Tkachuk scored the Sens' lone goal in defeat while Marcus Hogberg was busy stopping 30 of the 34 Colorado shots he faced.
Full highlights from that game below...

Where to watch

It's a 9 p.m. start in Colorado tonight and here's how you can catch all the action between the Sens and Avs...
BROADCAST: TSN5, RDS
RADIO:
TSN 1200
,
94,5 Unique FM
Need the perfect place to catch tonight's game? Then hit up Local Heroes (1400 Clyde Ave.) where they'll be serving up personal pitcher and wing specials for all Sens games.
To find out where our next watch party will be and specials you can enjoy, visit the full schedule
click here
.