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Game Day: Florida @ Ottawa

March 20, 2018, 10:18 AM ET [31 Comments]
Jared Crozier
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Florida Panthers come to town to pay a visit to the Ottawa Senators with a playoff push in mind as they enter their last dozen games. They posted a 2-0 shutout over the Habs Monday night which brought them within 3 points of the Devils with two games in hand for the last Wild Card spot.

Ottawa gave the Panthers a bit of a wakeup call last week in Florida, as the Senators snapped the Cats' 8 game home winning streak when the Panthers came out flat and looked like they took the Sens for granted.

Ottawa had their three game winning streak (just their second such stretch of the season) snapped on Saturday in Columbus, and with just 11 games left it looks like they will be calling up the reserves for a look.

Filip Chlapik gets the first look, as he replaced Jim O'Brien on the roster as the latter was sent to Belleville yesterday, but then O'Brien was just recalled this morning along with Pat Sieloff. Ryan Dzingel will not play following the shot to the back of the helmet he took on Saturday night.

It will be Craig Anderson facing James Reimer in the goaltending matchup, after Roberto Luongo made 28 saves for the shutout in his hometown last night. Anderson stopped 35 of 38 shots fired his way last week in Ottawa's 5-3 win over Florida.

On another note, under-the-radar signing Aaron Luchuck of the Barrie Colts finished the season as the OHL's top scorer after posting 50 goals and 65 assists for 115 points. He was undrafted and signed by the Senators in December.

Filip Gustavsson could also be Belleville bound as the Senators hope for the future in net is hopeful to join the AHL Senators following the conclusion of his season in Sweden. They are still working on the paperwork, but fellow Swede Marcus Hogberg was sent to the Brampton Beast to make space for Gustavsson, who was acquired from the Penguins in the Derrick Brassard deal.

As has been the case for much of the last month or so, the Senators are making as much news for their off-ice circumstances than the on-ice product.

Such is the case as yesterday the #melnykout crowdfunded billboards that gained momentum leading up to the trade deadline went up around the city. This seems to be a polarizing issue, and quite frankly I am surprised at the amount of support Melnyk has been getting on some social media sites.

I don't necessarily like the idea of the billboards, and don't think they will have any effect other than widening the gap between the team and the fans. I also think it tarnishes the reputation of the fan base as much as it does the owner in this case. And that is a fan base that is already looked at from the outside as one that isn't capable of supporting an NHL franchise.
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