Game Day Five: Senators at Canadiens, Feb. 25
By
Daniel Chisholm
Hockey Content and Social Media Specialist
The set-up
For the fourth, and final time this season the Senators will face off against their division rival Montreal Canadiens. Through three match ups this season the Senators have a clean record going 3-0, however two of those games have quite literally gone to the wire. The first game saw the Senators go up 3-0 before Montreal potted two of their own in the third period in a comeback effort that came up just short as the Senators ran out the clock. Of course, the last time these two saw each other it was back-and-forth all game long before Brady Tkachuk scored to put the Senators up 5-4 with just 1:18 left in regulation to wrap things up.
Fresh off a disappointing loss to Carolina last night, the Senators will look to right the ship tonight as they eye the season sweep against Montreal and continue to scratch and claw for the playoffs. Averaging 4.33 goals per game in this series, the stars have answered the call in this series time and time again. The top six of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto have provided 11 of the 13 goals against Montreal this season. Look for those top two lines to make some noise here tonight!
Montreal also enters tonight fresh off the front end of a back-to-back having ousted Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center 5-2 last night. The Canadiens are 5-2-0 since coming back from the NHL All-Star break having taken down some heavy hitters in the Oilers, the Islanders and the Devils along the way, and are currently carrying back-to-back wins into this game. Led by their young captain Nick Suzuki with 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points, this Montreal team cannot be taken lightly!
As these divisional battles usually bring out the best in both sides, expect a 60 minute wire-to-wire battle here tonight!
Roster notes
Ahead of last night's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Senators recalled defenceman Jacob Larsson from Belleville. Additionally, this morning the Senators recalled Mark Kastelic and re-assigned forward Ridly Greig to Belleville. With no morning practice today, below is how the Senators lined up yesterday against Carolina at PNC Arena:
Forwards:
Tkachuk - Stützle - Giroux
DeBrincat - Pinto - Batherson
Brassard - Greig - Gauthier
Joseph - Gambrell - Watson
Defense:
Chabot - Zub
Sanderson - Hamonic
Brannstrom - Holden
Playoff push
With just 25 games left in the Senators season, they are still well within striking distance of the playoffs, though they will need to make a push here. Currently sitting six points back of Buffalo for the last wildcard spot though it is a jam packed field heading into the home stretch. Below are the are the updated standings with how many games each team has remaining before the end of the season:
Team Points | Games remaining
NY Islanders 67 | 20 Buffalo 64 | 25 Detroit 64 | 25 Florida 64 | 21 Pittsburgh 63 | 25 Washington 62 | 22 Ottawa 58 | 25 Philadelphia 56 | 22 Montreal 54 | 24
Who to watch
To close out this regular season division rivalry series, your eyes should fix in on the man who has been a part of the most goals against Montreal this season. That would be Alex DeBrincat who through three games has lit the lamp twice while adding three asissts for five points, one of just two players to have a point in each outing. The first year Senator has 19 goals and 29 assists this season and is on pace for 69 points, the third highest total of his career. Look for DeBrincat to go four for four here tonight as the Senators look to make a clean sweep.
Where to watch
Saturday's game can be seen live on CBC, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, TVAS and NHL Network. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5.
