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With the Ottawa Senators fresh off a 5-2 win over Washington, they now host the Arizona Coyotes this afternoon at 4pm. For whatever reason over the years, the Sens have struggled in afternoon games, and last year they got caught looking ahead to their next opponent in both games against the Coyotes leading to two losses. This team can ill afford to look ahead to the Dallas Stars game on Monday night or not to take this Coyotes team seriously. Ottawa needs to grab as many points as possible early in the season and this crazy talk about potentially resting Anton Forsberg in goal after playing four straight games is foolish. The Sens need to ice their best lineup against inferior teams as they're in no position to think they're the Colorado Avalanche, like what occurred last night when the Avs dressed their backup goalie and got caught looking ahead to the Vegas game in losing to Seattle on home ice.

When looking back at the Caps game, with five key starters out for the visitors, Ottawa had a bit of letdown in the opening period but recovered nicely in the final two periods scoring five unanswered goals. One of the better telling stats for Ottawa was that they didn't allow a goal 5 on 5 against Washington.

Many media and fans said the Sens' rolled four lines over the last two periods better than they've seen an Ottawa team do in years but I would still like to see far more from Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly. Both players seem to skate miles all night long but have been extremely underwhelming overall. Personally, I would like to see Joseph used on the PK to get him more involved in the game by using his speed and creating the odd scoring chance like Alex Formenton did last year. Austen Watson seems to be chasing the play on the PK far too much but keeps getting top-two PK minutes.

One player that I thought who has played extremely well in the team's first four games of the season is Erik Brannstrom. Even DJ Smith said earlier in the week that he has earned his ice time, yet for some reason on Thursday night he had under 12 minutes TOI. A few sources close to the team told me, they hope DJ doesn't start doing the same as last year when a young player makes one mistake, that he takes away ice time while the vets that made mistakes in the first period leading to the Caps two powerplays kept receiving their regular shift. In the Sen's first three games of the season, Brannstrom was getting 15-17 minutes TOI but against Washington, he barely saw the ice in the third period.

With the Coyotes in town, you know talk will come up today about defenseman Jakob Chychrun. A few mainstream media have stated this week that nothing is imminent but I can tell you Sens GM Pierre Dorion calls Yotes GM Bill Armstrong daily for updates on Chychrun's health plus to see if the asking price has changed. Dorion knows that a few contending teams in the Eastern Conference are now pushing for Chychrun, so you know the last thing Dorion wants to see is for Ottawa to potentially miss out on acquiring this player. It's also possible with a few teams needing defensive help that the price could go up when a desperate team needs to help a specific position and can sometimes overpay for a need. I know Dorion will be talking with the Coyote's management today, so one has to wonder if talks will accelerate between the teams after meeting face to face. One last note with regards to rumours, Ottawa has made a few calls to the Pens, Canes, and Isles to look for help on their blueline. The obvious targets are Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Ethan Bear, and Noah Dobson.

Looking at Artem Zub's possible contract extension, it has been very quiet on both sides. Dorion did offer Zub a three year contract before training camp. It's widely known that Zub's camp wants a four to five year deal with an AAV in the four to five million range.

Predictions for today's Sens game? Comment, thoughts on the possible trade talk on the blueline?!

Thanks for reading.
Kevin

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