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The Ottawa Senators are back in action this afternoon after having three days off in between games. Tampa Bay comes to town for an afternoon tilt in which this will be the Sens only game in a 7-day stretch as they don't play again until Tuesday in Florida. The Lightning are 4-0 on this road trip and have won five games in a row, even with key injuries to Point and Kucherov.
Ottawa will have a different look on the blueline with Michael Del Zotto being waived and Jacob Benard-Docker being called up. I truly hope the coaching staff gives JBD a 10 game look to see where he's at, similar to that of Lassi Thomson. I keep saying this, but this team has no expectations for this season now so why not let the prospects get some valuable NHL experience. It will serve them so well for next year!! There's no way Victor Mete should be in the lineup over JBD if you called him up. Let's hope management does the same thing with Josh Brown when he returns from injury and put him on waivers like MDZ to alleviate the log jam on the blueline. it's time to look ahead to next season and let's get the prospects that are close to being every day NHLers the valuable experience at the NHL level.
I also wouldn't mind seeing Gaudette draw back into the lineup as Tierney has done nothing for weeks! You might as well find out what Gaudette can do as we have seen what Tierney is capable of over the past few seasons.
Friday practice lines:
Tkachuk Norris Batherson Formenton Stützle CBrown Sanford Tierney Ennis Paul Gambrell Watson Gaudette
Chabot Zaitsev Holden Zub Heatherington Mete Del Zotto JBD
Other quick hits on the Sens -
Matt Murray sustained a lower-body injury and didn't start in goal last night for Belleville. No update on the length of time he's expected out.
With Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson not running in next year's election, it opens the door for Sens owner Eugene Melnyk to possibly forge a new positive relationship with the incoming mayor on possibly re-igniting new arena talks at Lebreton Flats! Many Sens fans will be glad to hear that there's at least the possibility of the situation being re-visited.
When looking at the Sens schedule for the rest of December, after the home game today they hit the road for 3 games(FL/TB/Philly) then back home for 3 more before the Christmas break against Boston/STL/Carolina. After the break, they go to Washington then return home to face Boston and Pittsburgh.
It's always hard to predict an entire 9 game slate as injuries, travel, etc.... factor in but when looking at the quality of teams the Sens's face, I would hope Ottawa could grab wins against Philly, STL, and split the 2 games against Boston at home. That would mean snagging a possible 6 points out of 18. Naturally, you would hope they could grab an extra point here and thereby forcing OT against one of the top teams on their schedule. I'm curious to hear Sens fans' thoughts on what their expectations are of Ottawa for the rest of December.
Long term when looking ahead to the New Year, January's schedule is a very tough month for Ottawa. They start at Toronto, back home to Minnesota then they hit the west coast for 5 games. Back home for one game, then back out on the road for three more! Thankfully they finish the month with 4 home games.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments! Kevin