Game Day Five: Senators at Blues, Jan. 16
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
Head coach D.J. Smith has hammered home the same message all season, this team wants to play 0.500% or better hockey on the road this season. After splitting the first two games of this road trip, tonight's game proves to be the proverbial rubber match to surpass that 0.500% mark. This team has been solid with their bounce back efforts this season, identifying what went wrong in games past and correcting those errors. At yesterday's practice it was clear from the get-go that the leadership team was taking it on themselves to help this group grow and bounce back from the Colorado game. Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot were two of the first on the ice, helping to warm up to goaltenders. Meanwhile, Claude Giroux was vocal in instructing players and holding them accountable on both sides of the puck.
St. Louis comes into tonight having dropped two in a row following a bit of a hot streak in which they won four of five against some formidable opponents along the way. Though they're sitting on the outside of the playoffs looking in right now for the first time since the 2017-18 NHL season, they're quickly making up ground. Led by their top line of Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich with 42, 40 and 37 points respectively, St. Louis can put up points in a hurry.
Both of these teams are looking for a bounce back effort here tonight, as they scratch and claw for playoff positioning. Look for the leadership groups on both sides to set the tone, and a physical game right from puck drop!
Roster notes
Defenceman Artem Zub will be held out of tonight's game after suffering a lower body injury against Colorado. With that news the team recalled Jacob Bernard-Docker from Belleville yesterday afternoon. Head coach D.J. Smith shook up the lines at yesterday's practice with the possibility that Mathieu Joseph might be coming back into the fold. Though Nikita Zaitsev participated in his first full practice since his injury he is not expected to suit up tonight. Below is how the Senators lined up for their practice yesterday at Enterprise Center:
Forwards:
DeBrincat - Pinto - Giroux
Tkachuk - Stützle - Batherson
Kelly - Gambrell - Joseph
Lucchini - Kastelic - Watson
Brassard - Norris
Defense:
Chabot - Zaitsev
Sanderson - Hamonic
Brannstrom - Holden
Past history
Today marks just the 41st match up between these two interconference foes all-time. St. Louis currently holds a narrow edge in the series going 20-18 with an additional two ties. It seems to often be a high scoring affair when these two meet with the last three cames averaging 7.33 goals per game! The last time the Senators came to town they walked away with the 4-1 victory over St. Louis at Enterprise Center.
Who to watch
Making just his third ever trip to his hometown, be on the lookout for Brady Tkachuk to put his stamp on this game. Coming off a disappointing game against Colorado after which Tkachuk was at a loss for words to describe what went wrong this group is looking to rebound in a big way. As captains are prone to do, when the chips are down Tkachuk is often the one that steps up! Having tallied two points in their two match ups last season, Tkachuk has proven that he can get it done against this St. Louis team and will look to continue that pace here tonight.
Where to watch
Monday's game can be seen live on Sportsnet and RDS2. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
