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With the Ottawa Senators off a 2-1 defeat in Tampa Bay last night, the Sens get set to take on the Flyers tomorrow night in Philadelphia. They'll be without Nikita Zaitsev on defense after seriously injuring his right ankle in the first period, which will force Jacob Bernard-Docker into action on the blueline. Since being recalled a week ago, JBD has missed 3 BSens games and has only practiced with the big club so here's hoping he gets a long look on defense. With the announcement of the Belleville Senators in covid lockdown, Ottawa won't be able to recall anyone for the time being as games in Belleville this weekend are postponed against Syracuse and Providence. The only extra player on the Sens roster is Adam Gaudette and I wouldn't mind seeing him in the lineup in place of Chris Tierney, who has done absolutely nothing of late. So why not give a player you claimed off waivers some game time as he has only suited up for one game. At this point, Gaudette can't do any worse than Tierney.
It will be interesting to see if DJ Smith makes a few changes with his top two lines as the Lightning had the Cirelli line against the Sens top line all game long and they really shut them down. With Ottawa getting hot over the last half dozen games, once again teams won't get caught taking them lightly as some teams have over that stretch. Factor in what Tampa Bay did in playing their number one goaltender against the Sens as Ottawa had seen mostly backup goaltenders during their hot stretch. We all know how it's a copycat league when you see how one team shut down another team, so it'll be interesting to see who starts in goal for the Flyers. Philadelphia had their first three-game win streak of the snapped last night in Montreal.
The other lineup change I would like to see is for Filip Gustavsson to get a start in goal in place of Anton Forsberg. Gus has played once in the last 16 days and if management follows through on what they said would happen after Sens GM Pierre Dorion spoke 2 weeks ago to the media, he said the coaching staff was turning their attention to the development of the prospects and the youth already on the current roster. Then this past Tuesday in Florida, Dorion went on TSN5 and said if you win you're in the lineup, referencing the goaltending position. Too bad that logic didn't apply back in November when Gus was the only player giving this team a chance to win when they struggled defensively. He didn't get rewarded for great play back then. If you recall, Gus was in goal for the win over Pittsburgh but then Forsberg played the following the night before the team's season was put on pause due to the covid outbreak.
Forsberg went long stretches this season without seeing action and naturally, he struggled when he did get a start as a goalie cant sit for extended periods, then hoping to get the same results when they are starting a few games per week. If you look back at Forsberg, he went from Oct. 16 until Nov. 17th between starts in goal. In the game on Oct. 23rd he came in for the last 5 minutes of the game due to the Murray injury and naturally he struggled. When he did start on Nov. 17th he looked very average in a 4-0 loss to Calgary. He then didn't start again until Nov. 26th and once again took the loss 4-0 in Anaheim. Fans will be quick to say, he didn't get much help from his defense but neither did Gus when he was playing outstanding hockey, the difference is, Gus gave his team a chance to win each time out. I truly think it's time to give Gus the net for a few straight games and let him regain his form while allowing him to develop as Dorion said would happen with the team's prospects two weeks ago.
Puck drop is 7pm in Philadelphia tomorrow night, so I guess time will tell if Gus is allowed to develop the way Dorion said the organization wanted to see, so the team would be better for it next season when they hope to contend for a playoff spot.
Lastly, with the Boston Bruins having their game postponed tomorrow night in Montreal, I wonder if Ottawa will host Boston on Sunday night at home for their 5pm start. If that were to happen, Ottawa wouldn't play again until Tuesday night at home to the St. Louis Blues and Logan Brown!
Thanks for reading. Comments on the possibility of shuffling the top 2 lines, making Tierney a healthy scratch, and who you think should start in goal tomorrow night?
Kevin