On Friday night, the Ottawa Senators will play host to a desperate Chicago Blackhawks team searching for points in a brutal Western Conference playoff race.
Although the Senators - 34-23-8 with seventeen games remaining - and Blackhawks -34-24-7 with seventeen games remaining - have nearly identical records, the two sides are in incredibly different positions as the 2011-2012 season winds down. Ottawa, thanks largely to a muddling middle in the Eastern Conference, is soaring to a playoff birth(96%). Chicago, thanks largely to a surging middle in the Western Conference, is in a dog fight(78%).
While the two sides have played comparable hockey over the course of the season, it's Ottawa that's coming on strong of late. Thanks largely to a surge in goal-scoring and improved goaltending, Ottawa's 7-2-1 in their last ten games, and their doing so without their starting goaltender in Craig Anderson, who is sidelined indefinitely.
All year long, Ottawa's had trouble keeping pucks out of their net, but on Tuesday night, the Senators looked like an all-world defensive team. Robin Lehner - the likely starting goaltender for this team from here on out - shut out the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday, in perhaps the team's biggest win of the season.
One team that can relate to the goals against woes? Chicago. It's reached DEFCON 0 in the Windy City, folks. Corey Crawford has been an unmitigated disaster of late; some of it's on him, some of it's on the defense in front. He's 22-16-5 on the year, but his splits (.900 save percentage, 2.94 GAA) are plummeting.
After being yanked in consecutive games, head coach Joel Quenneville had no choice but to roll with back-up and familiar face Ray Emery Friday night in Ottawa. You do remember the kid, don't you?
Ray Emery played well in relief v. Toronto on Wednesday, but he's still a shadow of his former self after hip surgery. Moving post-to-post for him is still a big struggle. On the year, Emery's 12-8-2, with a .905 save percentage and 2.72 GAA.
As expected, Paul MacLean will counter with the twenty-year old Swede in Robin Lehner. The kid's been sensational in consecutive appearances for Ottawa, playing with confidence and poise between the pipes. Lehner's seen just three starts on the year, and so far, he's won 'em all (.954 save percentage, 1.33 GAA).
While Lehner's been a bright spot for Ottawa, the team will continue to ride the hot hands of Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson, and others. Karlsson in particular has been on fire, with seven goals and eleven assists during an eight-game point streak. Spezza's added eight goals and thirteen assists over the past ten games himself.
With a win in tonight's game, the Ottawa Senators can continue to push the likes of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference, and continue to gain ground on the likes of the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets below. Ottawa's really trying to avoid the brutal seven-seed in the conference, which will probably be forced into a draw with the Boston Bruins in RD1.
One quick lineup note: Looks like Matt Carkner and Kaspars Daugavins will again sit in the press box. Can you really blame Paul MacLean here? Carkner's going to become a permanent fixture behind the set-six on the blue line, and Daugavins hasn't done much of anything to warrant playing time of late.
Puck drops at 7:00 PM ET on TSN.
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