The Ottawa Senators return home with a tall order as they take on the best team in the East and League — the Washington Capitals. Washington leads the league with a 0.716 save percentage at 63 points in 44 games.
Washington went bold this summer following the purchase of CapFriendly and added Jakob Chychrun; Matt Roy; Logan Thompson; Brandon Duhaime; Taylor Raddysh; Andrew Mangipanie; Jakub Vrana; and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The great chase for Alexander Ovechkin continues as he is 21 goals away from Gretzky’s record.
Ottawa will have to fight to earn the two points tonight against the best. This will be a battle as every point earned will keep the Senators in the playoff race.
Logan Thompson and Leevi Merilainen will be goaltenders in the starting crease.
Projected Lineups
Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Aliaksei Protas Connor McMichael -- Dylan Strome -- Tom Wilson Taylor Raddysh -- Lars Eller -- Ethen Frank Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Andrew Mangiapane
Rasmus Sandin -- John Carlson Martin Fehervary -- Matt Roy Jakob Chychrun -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson Hunter Shepard
Scratched: Dylan McIlrath, Alexander Alexeyev, Jakub Vrana
Injured: Sonny Milano (upper body), Charlie Lindgren (upper body)
Ottawa Senators
Brady Tkachuk -- Josh Norris -- Drake Batherson Claude Giroux -- Tim Stutzle -- Adam Gaudette Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Ridly Greig Matthew Highmore -- Zack Ostapchuk -- Michael Amadio
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub Donovan Sebrango -- Nick Jensen Tyler Kleven -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Leevi Merilainen Anton Forsberg
Scratched: None
Injured: Linus Ullmark (back), Travis Hamonic (lower body), Jacob Bernard-Docker (high ankle sprain), David Perron (upper body), Noah Gregor (lower body), Thomas Chabot (face)
Players to Watch
Washington — Jakob Chychrun — the former Senators’ defenseman is back in Ottawa for the first time since the trade.
Sens — Nick Jensen — the former Capitals’ defenseman faces his former club for the first time since the postseason swap.
Predicted Final Score
WSH - 4
OTT - 2
Gambling Corner
Draft Kings have the Capitals at a -112.
How to Watch
Time - 7 p.m. ET; Channels - RDS2, TSN5, MNMT
More to come…