Ahead of tonight's tilt in Pittsburgh, we've got pre-game thoughts from Derick Brassard, Mike Condon and Chris DiDomenico in our Game Day 5.

1. Brassard on yesterday's tough practice

The Sens held a high-paced practice yesterday at Canadian Tire Centre before traveling to Pittsburgh and it was pretty clear that Sens head coach Guy Boucher wanted to ramp up the compete level.
"Sometimes it's good for you to do some battle drills," said Derick Brassard following the skate. "We're playing one of the best teams in the league and the defending champs the last two years so we have to be ready to play a solid game."
After a disastrous start to Saturday's game in Toronto that saw the Sens give up 3 goals in the first 12 minutes, Brassard and the Sens know that they need to "start the game on time" and not put themselves in such a deep hole early on. Despite the issues in the first period, the Sens did respond and close the gap over the final 40 minutes but weren't able to overcome the 3-0 deficit.
"We had a good push in the second and the third," recalled Brassard about the Sens' 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs. "But in the first period, for whatever reason, we didn't have our legs."

2. Condon on the mend

Boucher hinted at Mike Condon being a bit under the weather last week and that resulted in the 27-year-old netminder needing some time to recover.
"In the middle of February everyone kind of gets the same patterns of sickness," said Condon. "It starts with some congestion over the All-Star Break and then in February that's when the body is probably most vulnerable. It's a tough part of the season and a lot of guys get run down but it was just a little stomach bug."
That "little stomach bug" saw Condon drop nearly 10 lbs. of weight and left the Sens goalie feeling pretty weak. He was still able to perform his back-up duties, which included playing over 48 minutes against Toronto, and admitted that gutting it out (pun intended?) is something that he takes pride in.
"That's what part of being a pro is," said Condon. "Even when you're not feeling good, you still have to go out and perform."

The coach said Condon could get his first start in over a week tonight against the Penguins but wanted to make sure his netminder was feeling as close to 100% before confirming. The team had been spliting starts up until Condon's bout with the stomach bug began which he credits for his recent boost in play.
"It's helped a lot to get the timing down," he said about alternating starts. "When you don't play for two weeks, you're always just trying to get a feel for the game during the first period."

3. DiDomenico fitting it

With 3 goals over his last 5 games, Chris DiDomenico is starting to carve out a role providing secondary scoring for the Sens this season. He's spent time in both the top 6 and on a checking line but DiDomenico's unique playmaking abilities have seen him record 10 points in 23 games so far this year.
"For a time it was like everything I was shooting was going in for me," he said. "Everytime you shoot the puck there's a chance that it's going to go in so it's important to have that shooting mentality."
The 28-year-old forward has also bonded with the two youngest Senators on the roster and admitted that spending time after practice goofing around has been a great way to help keep things loose.
"That's just something we do after practice sometimes," shared DiDomenico. "If we have a little extra time after we put in the work we'll stick around and play a little game."
Instagram from @senators: Chabby vs. DiDo vs. Whitey.

4. Previous meeting

These teams last met on November 16th, 2017 in the Sens first game back following their trip to Sweden for the NHL Global Series. Jean-Gabriel Pageau had the lone goal for Ottawa and Craig Anderson was solid stopping 26 of the 28 shots he faced but ultimately the Penguins would leave Canadian Tire Centre with a 3-1 win.
Full highlights from that game below...

5. Where to watch

It's a 7 p.m. start tonight in Pittsburgh and if you're looking for a spot to watch the game then look no further. Head on down to
Hooley's Pub
on Elgin this evening where they'll be serving up $6 pints of Molson Canadian all game long.
Stuck at home with the kids/dog/cat/etc...? Well you can catch all the action on TSN5 and RDS along with the radio call with Dean and Gord on TSN 1200.
Instagram from @senators: It's a #Sens game day! The Sens are in Pittsburgh set to take on the Penguins tonight at 7 p.m. #GoSensGo