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Game Day: Ottawa @ San Jose |
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The Ottawa Senators will wrap up the west coast swing of this marathon road trip with a stop in San Jose to face the Sharks. Thankfully, it is also the second-last time they will drop the puck at 10 eastern this season (their game in Vegas in March is also a 10PM start), because these late games are killing me, especially back to back on weeknights, but I digress.
The Senators were markedly better against the Kings, and they earned a point on a night where they had to battle back 3 times from 1 goal deficits and tied it up in the dying seconds. You can call it a moral victory, but that type of win doesn't put points on the board and points are what they need at this point, as they are teetering on the edge of falling out of the playoff race.
The Sharks are coming off a come-from behind win of their own, but their comeback from a 4-1 second period deficit to beat the Hurricanes 5-4 in overtime was a little more impressive. Brent Burns' winner was just his second of the season, after falling just 1 shy of 30 last season. Hopefully that doesn't get him going, for the Senators' sake. Logan Couture has been the best Shark so far this season, with 14 goals so far, double what second place has on their team, and a team leading 22 points.
Meanwhile, the Senators have to hope that finally netting points gets Erik Karlsson and Matt Duchene going, because those two along with Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman have to drive the offensive bus to the playoffs. Yes, occasional support from the rest of the roster helps, but those 4 players should be the go-to guys and the guys that Ottawa needs going every night to compete.
Neither team has confirmed a starting goalie as of yet, but if it were me, I would go back to Mike Condon for this one and give him a chance to earn the starting role. He was outstanding in LA, and with a little luck on his side as well he earned the point
With a conference game against the Wild tomorrow night, it wouldn't surprise me to see Aaron Dell in the Sharks net, saving Martin Jones for the more important Western foe tomorrow. It would be the third straight game that the Senators would face the backup of an opponent, but the thing is in two of those games the backup actually has better numbers than the starter, albeit in a more limited role. Dell has a 1.93 GAA and .933 SP in 10 appearances (7 starts), while Jones has a 2.42 GAA and .919 SP, but both are miles better than what the Ottawa duo has been able to do so far.
The three in four nights through California is never an easy thing, but the Senators need to find a way to get two point tonight, and with (what should be) a relatively easy game in Buffalo looming, a decent chance to come home with at least a modicum of confidence and respectability to show for the 7 game road trip. A couple of wins and they come back 3-3-1. On the other hand a couple more losses would make it as bad as 1-5-1 and then you have to worry about potential job losses upon returning to the Capital. These are a pivotal couple of games for the Senators.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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