After falling to the Capitals last night in Washington the Senators have an opportunity to hit reset here tonight as they take on the Predators in their final match up this season. Back on Jan. 29, the Senators overcame a 3-0 deficit after the first period to down the Predators in overtime behind Claude Giroux's game-winner. Since then the Senators have gone 6-3-1, averaging 3.40 goals per game.
These games against Nashville tend to go the distance in recent memory. With the season series split down the middle over their last eight contests, the Sens and Predators games have been decided by one goal in six of those eight meetings. Three times they have gone to overtime with the Senators coming out on top in all three.
Coming into this contest, Brady Tkachuk sits just one-goal away from tying Radek Bonk for 7th on the Senators all-time goals list. With 13 points in his last 12 games, be on the lookout for him to hit that mark as the Tkaptain aims to carry the Sens to victory and claw back some ground in the playoff race.
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Nashville is riding a five-game win streak into this contest as they seek revenge for the loss the Senators dealt them in the last outing. While there is nothing about Nashville's game that particulary stands out as next level, they find themselves in the final wild card spot with just 23 games left to play. Masters of their own destiny.
Behind the efforts of Filip Forsberg in the midst of another fantastic season, averaging a point per game and leading the team in points and goals, as well as Ryan O'Reilly who paces the team with 12 power play goals, this Predators team can be a handful. On the back end, Roman Josi is one of the league's top defencemen and currently leads the Predators with 42 assists, while Juuse Saros boasts a 0.904% save percentage while only allowing 2.95 goals per game. A tough nut to crack on the back end.
The Senators will have their work cut out for them but not satisfied following last night's effort and still seeking a playoff spot, expect a high energy affair from the Sens at Bridgestone Arena tonight.
