The Ottawa Senators play their penultimate home game Thursday night when they host the Florida Panthers, who are in the second half of a back to back following a tough loss to Toronto on Wednesday.
The loss kept the Panthers three points back of the Devils for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and used up one of the two games the Cats held on New Jersey.
That makes tonight's game the good old "a close to a must win as a must win can be without actually being a must win" for the Panthers, and they can use some help in Newark from the Penguins as they take on the Devils.
The Senators are playing out the string, and don't have much more than pride to motivate them. That, and trying to avoid a seven game losing streak (all in regulation) which would set a new season high and match the longest losing streak in at least a dozen years.
The Senators sent Ben Sexton back to Belleville, and that allowed them to call up Colin White this morning on an "emergency basis" which does not count as one of their 4 post-deadline call-ups, meaning Filip Gustavsson could still see some time in an NHL net before the season is over. White is on a three game goal and four game point scoring streak with Belleville, and had 3 points in his last game, an 8-2 win over Laval. Overall he has 11 goals and 16 assists in 47 AHL games. Ben Harpur will be the scratch again.
Speaking of Harpur, we have had a good look at him, and in my eyes it hasn't been a very good audition for him going forward. A lot was expected of him following his stint last season and even into the playoffs, but like many of his teammates I think the result of this season has been very underwhelming. I would even draw comparisons to Jared Cowen (and not in a good way if that were possible) and Harpur doesn't look like anything more than a 6/7 defesneman. He doesn't have the puck skills, doesn't impose his size well enough and gets beat with regularity on plays that an NHL defenseman should not get beat on. Maybe that can change and he can develop into a legit NHL defender, but at this point I wouldn't think he would have a spot on a team that is contending.
Erik Karlsson is two points away from a 5th straight 60 point season, and 6th overall, which would put him in pretty elite company. It would make him one of just two players to accomplish that feat that played any part of their career after 2003 (Nick Lidstrom being the other). Brent Burns (with 4) reached the plateau on Saturday is the only other active defenseman with more than 2 such seasons.
--
The Senators signed Andrew Sturtz, one of the top 5 NCAA free agents available, to a 2 year entry level deal that kicks in next season. Sturtz is Penn State's all-time leading scorer and despite being a native of Buffalo, he has local ties as he played for 2 seasons in the CCHL with Carleton Place and was on the team that came within a whisker of winning the National Junior A Championship in consecutive years (2014 and 2015).
He is a little guy, at 5'8" and 185 lbs, but by all accounts he is a competitive player who isn't afraid to mix it up. He is also on the older side at 23 years of age, so his learning curve will have to be steep.
Whether or not he can make an NHL impact at any point, sometimes finding a free diamond in the rough can go a long way especially for a team lacking in depth. Sturtz will be a project that odds are won't pan out, but maybe they can strike lightning with him.