Looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2-0 loss against the Minnesota Wild, the Ottawa Senators will be back in action tonight with a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights, widely viewed as a Stanley Cup contender, have a 4-3-0 record to start the season, so they will undoubtedly be looking to take advantage of a lowly Senators squad to ensure that they stay above the .500 mark.
This game will provide a real challenge for Ottawa. Led by a familiar face in Mark Stone, the Golden Knights have the potential to be an absolute juggernaut. Mistakes will lead to chances. Bad shifts will lead to goals against. If the Senators want to look competitive this evening, they’ll need to bring their A-game and nothing less.
Specific to the Senators, head coach D.J. Smith announced yesterday that Anders Nilsson will get the start in net. After a mini redemption run by Craig Anderson, it’s now Nilsson’s turn to right the ship after a rough outing to start the season. It shouldn’t take much to improve upon his 0-1-0 record, 5.08 goals against average, and .861 save percentage. Based on yesterday’s practice, rest of the expected lineup for tonight look something like this:
Practice lines in Vegas.
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) October 16, 2019
Tkachuk-White-Duclair
Ennis-Tierney-Ryan
Namestnikov-Pageau-Brown
Paul-Szwarz-Sabourin/Boedker
Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Hainsey
Borowiecki-DeMelo
With the early returns suggesting that the Senators will be as bad as expected, attention on a game like tonight’s should be focused on ensuring that young players look good and are moving forward with their development. Duclair’s start to the season is an example of this at play. The team hasn’t been very good, but he’s been a ton of fun to watch. That’s the sort of thing that will get fans through an 82-game schedule without many ticks in the “W… column.
As always, thanks for reading.