It is a rare situation this afternoon for the Ottawa Senators, because they host a team that is looking way up at them in the standings. The Arizona Coyotes, a team that missed the playoffs by just 2 points last season are near the bottom of both the Western Conference as well as the entire NHL.
The 'Yotes com in off a 3-2 win over the free-falling Maple Leafs but they haven't been good this season. It appears that their biggest weapon is an Oliver Ekman-Larsson dump in from centre ice.
The Coyotes have already made a decision to basically blow the team up, and apparently nobody is untouchable with recent rumors that Ekman-Larsson might be on the block. He joins the likes of Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle as players who could be finding new homes within the month.
While Vermette has been linked to a lot of teams in the last couple of weeks and months, Ottawa has been mentioned among them possibly being a destination for the former Senator to return. Personally, I wouldn't like the move because he is something that the Senators already have - a smallish #2 centre who can get you 45-55 points. He is basically and older version of Kyle Turris. Plus, he is a pending UFA at the end of the season so could be a rental and we all know how acquiring a rental at this point in the season worked out last year.
If the Senators were to trade with Arizona, I would prefer to target either Yandle or Ekman-Larsson, either of whom would be a nice fit with Erik Karlsson, assuming Marc Methot won't come to terms on a new agreement and will be dealt before the deadline. Yandle has 1 year left at $5.75M and OEL has 3 years left at $6M. Obviously Ekman-Larsson would be a better fit because he has the term but he would cost a lot more in terms of picks and prospects going the other way, so that is probably a pipe dream.
Now back to the game....from a Senators standpoint they simply need to play a consistent game and not have a prolonged letdown like they did against the Stars that had them in an 0-3 hole before the game was 12 minutes old.
As so many games do these days in the NHL, it is going to come down to goaltending, and the Coyotes have had their problems in that area this season with Mike Smith falling on tough times as the goalie who was the third man in Sochi for Team Canada has a GAA of 3.41 and SP of .890, both well down the rankings this season.
Robin Lehner will probably get another chance with Craig Anderson still nursing a hand injury and listed as day-to-day. Lehner was as inconsistent as the team in front of him on Thursday, letting his club get in the hole but then holding the fort allowing them to come back and get on even terms.
With the Senators and playoffs not being mentioned in the same sentence, you just hope for the younger players to get quality time and learn through experience. And beating the teams they should beat, something that hasn't always happened with enough regularity, hence sitting where they are in the standings.