The most daunting road trip of the season kicks off tonight as the Ottawa Senators begin an odyssey that will see them visit 5 of the top 9 teams in the Western Conference.
It begins tonight in Anaheim, and with the March 2 trade deadline looming in the middle of this trip, we are bound to see some interesting lineups. Colin Greening is with the team and will likely be showcased at some point in the trip although judging from practice after the team arrived in Anaheim yesterday, he will take his all-too-familar spot in the press box as a healthy scratch.
The Senators chose not to bring along a 7th defenseman, meaning Patrick Wiercioch, Eric Gryba and Mark Boroweicki will all be in the lineup because of the ludicrous suspension to Jared Cowen.
As an aside, the more I watch that hit, the more frustrating the department of player safety becomes. It was interference, he was penalized for it and the player came back two and a half minutes later. Jussi Jokinen had his head down skating through the centre of the ice, and yes, Cowen should have seen him dish the puck, but his focus was on his check and got him right in the chest, Jokinen admiring his pass going through the slot is as responsible for the play as Cowen was. But I digress. The decision was made and the Senators have to live with it.
Andrew Hammond will get his third straight start in the Senators net, looking for his third straght win. That is a feat that neither Robin Lehner or Craig Anderson has accomplished this season, and the team itself hasn't done since the 4 game winning streak from Game 2-5 this season.
It certainly won't be an easy task, as the Ducks are comfortably in the lead in the Pacific Division, no doubt enjoying the 5 team catfight below them for the remaining playoff spots. They are 6 points behind the Predators for top spot in the league, so that is something that they will be playing for. John Gibson is on a three game winning streak of his own, the last one being a 4-3 shootout win over the Red Wings. He is replacing starter Frederik Andersen who is out with an upper body injury and has spent most of the season in the minors to get playing time. That is probably something the Senators should have done with Lehner, instead of rushing him to the league when they had 2 competent goalies already manning the crease. But that is hindsight and is of course 20-20.
Ryan Getzlaf, the Bald One who recently had a war of words with Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, has 4 points in his last three games and is the undisputed leader of the Ducks.
You will remember that Anaheim is the place where the Senators' season went off the rails last year, and it happened much earlier in the season. The last time the Senators were at Honda Center, the Ducks had 9 shots and two goals in the first 4:06, and sent Anderson to the bench. They proceeded to pepper Lehner with 47 more shots, and almost amazingly the final was just 4-1. That game exposed a lot of defensive weakness that continued for much of the season and it could be argued still exists, although the team has been significantly better in its own end under Dave Cameron.
So get your pre-game naps in and set the alarm for the 10:00 PM eastern puck drop and enjoy the late night game!