It's been almost six months since the last time the Ottawa Senators played a regular season game, but now they are back. They are definitely a lot different than the 2017-18 iteration of the team, but they are the Senators nonetheless. It is the beginning of a long season that will be full of drama, and I don't expect people to be happy-go-lucky very often. Having said that, hockey games are better than no hockey games.
For the season and home opener, the Senators are facing off against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks are also coming off of an extremely disappointing season, but they still have their main core of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Corey Crawford, Duncan Keith, etc. in tact. Here is how they will line up against Ottawa tonight:
Blackhawks this morning:
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) October 4, 2018
DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun
Saad-Schmaltz-Kane
Kunitz-Anisimov-Kampf
Kruger-Johnson-Martinsen/Hayden
On defense, the Blackhawks website listed the pairings as such:
Keith-Jokiharju Manning-Seabrook Gustafsson/Davidson/Rutta rotating
With Corey Crawford not completely healthy yet, newly signed goaltender Cam Ward will be in net. Although Ward has been awful for years now, he has actually been very good over the course of his career against the Senators:
For those wondering, tonight's #Blackhawks starter Cam Ward has feasted on #Sens throughout his career with #Canes. Ward's record vs OTT - 18-8-3, 2.25 GAA,
— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) October 4, 2018
.924 Sv Pct..
At the end of the day, this is still Cam Ward we're talking about, and Ottawa is catching a break by starting the season against one of the worst goaltenders in the league.
The Senators lineup will not include Brady Tkachuk, although he is hopeful that he can suit up on Saturday versus the Maple Leafs. With Tkachuk out, here is what the lines looked like at practice on Tuesday:
With no Brady Tkachuk on the ice today for practice, here are the lines:
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) October 2, 2018
Dzingel Duchene Ryan
Forementon Smith Stone
Paajarvi White Boedker
McCormick Tierney Pyatt
Chabot -Wideman
Borowiecki -Ceci
Lajoie -DeMelo
Harpur -Jaros
Ben Harpur is the only healthy scratch, which is no surprise. Dylan DeMelo had an injury scare when he was apparently hit in the face with a stick, but he is good to go. What is a bit surprising though is how the blueline is constructed. Mark Borowiecki never gets first or second pairing minutes, but if he is playing with Cody Ceci then it's hard to imagine them getting any less than 20 minutes tonight. Furthermore, by having those two together, it makes the other two pairings a lot more intriguing. I've always wanted to see what Chris Wideman could do with a bigger role, and he gets that opportunity with Thomas Chabot. Then Max Lajoie gets to make his NHL debut with capable depth defenseman DeMelo, so hopefully the first and third pairing can make up for the shortcomings of the second.
For the forwards, the most noticeable thing is that Alex Formenton will be in the top-six alongside the best player on the team in Mark Stone. There's a good chance that that line will be successful. The 4th line is extremely bland, but at least Colin White is on the third line and not buried with players like Tom Pyatt and Max McCormick. I fully expect Matt Duchene to be electric no matter who he is playing with, although we know that him and Ryan Dzingel are very fun to watch when playing together.
The lines would look a lot more exciting if Tkachuk was playing and if Filip Chlapik and/or Logan Brown were in the NHL, but there are still a few interesting things to watch for. In order to get some good mojo, Guy Boucher is looking fresh:
Fresh new season. Fresh new haircut. #sens pic.twitter.com/3dWciZQtIl
— Brent Wallace (@tsn_wally) October 4, 2018
Game stories for tonight:
1. How will Lajoie look in his debut?
2. Can Ottawa jump on Ward early?
3. Working out the kinks with new players
Puck drop is 7:30 EST, I can't wait to see what the attendance looks like.