|
Game Day: St. Louis @ Ottawa - bye bye bye |
|
|
|
|
|
After what feels like a month off but was only just over a week, the Senators get back to action tonight when they host the St. Louis Blues in an inter-conference game.
It will be the first of two meetings of the season between the clubs, and they will meet again in St. Louis next Tuesday.
The Blues have also had their bye week, but they returned on Tuesday in Toronto, a 2-1 overtime win.
The Blues are in a dogfight in the Central Division, where 9 points is all that separates first place Winnipeg and last place Chicago.
The Senators aren't fortunate enough to be in such a position, as they amazingly enough didn't make up any ground while they were off for eight straight days! They are still the 29th ranked team in the NHL, 12 points out of the wild card race and 15 points behind the Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic.
As Pierre Dorion tries to figure out a direction for the club going forward, the games still have to be played even if an early end to the season is inevitable. While some might encourage a tank to get better odds at the #1 overall pick, the brief display of positivity to start 2018 shows me that most fans would rather see wins than losses even if it ends up being worst case in the long term.
The Senators might show some signs of rust, although they did choose to have an evening practice to work some of the fun out of their legs last night.
Mark Borowiecki should add some grit to the lineup, after missing two months with a concussion. Bobby Ryan is out with his latest hand injury (EDIT: Apparently Ryan is OK to play according to todays morning skate) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Nate Thompson are both questionable following practice last night. The Senators have called up Filip Chlapik from Belleville. Colin White, who along with Chlapik and Ben Harpur were sent down after the Senators' last game, has not yet been recalled and it looks like he will remain in the AHL at least for now.
Expect Craig Anderson to get the start, and nobody needed a break from hockey more than the Senators goalie, who has not had a banner season so far to put it mildly.
With a lot of names on the trade bait board (Pageau, Zack Smith, Mike Hoffman, Dion Phaneuf are all on TSN's 25 player list), it could be a high-turnover spring in Ottawa, and players will either be auditioning for other teams, or trying to show why they should be kept around for next season.
It is a long time for a team to essentially be playing for nothing except being a spoiler, and it is going to make for a long couple of months. Hopefully they can at least be entertaining.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»