Game 59 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Chicago Blackhawks

The Ottawa Senators (21-28-9) wrap up their mini two-game road trip tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks (25-27-8). The Sens have won six games in February, their most in a single month this season despite being far away from playoff contention. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, have been sliding hard down the Central division, winning a single game in ten tries since February 1st.

Roster Notes

After missing the last two games for personal reasons, Ryan Dzingel will return to the lineup tonight against his childhood team. The move forced Gabriel Dumont out of the lineup, who was placed on waivers yesterday and re-claimed by the Lightning earlier today. The rest of the lineup will stay the same.

Mike Condon will be starting tonight, after Craig Anderson started the last three. With Corey Crawford out, Hawks backup Anton Forsberg will be making his fourth consecutive start.

Projected Lineup

Boucher has confirmed the combos of the first and third line shown below, although he’ll be switching around Paajarvi, Pyatt and Dzingel mid-game.

Game Notes

• Let’s hope the Sens put their last game against Chicago behind them — an 8-2 lashing where they were outshot 43-27.
• Dumont, DiDomenico and Thompson are all gone, each of them players who had been targeted by Boucher. Only Tom Pyatt remains, with Marc Crawford also sort of falling into that category.
• Speaking of which, even if Boucher isn’t canned after this season, something has to be switched around with the assistants. They’ve been in charge of the special teams, which has become a colossal failure.
• Mark Stone has eight points in his last six games, bringing his season total to 50 points in 49 games. The man is going to get paid this off-season.
• The Sens and Blackhawks made a trade this past week, swapping Chris DiDomenico for Ville Pokka. Both are playing in the AHL, with Pokka registering his first point (an assist) on Monday. DiDomenico has yet to make his Rockford IceHogs debut, although his last game for Belleville was against them (he also had an assist).
• In somewhat-relevant news, Dion Phaneuf has three goals in his first four games for Los Angeles.
• Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have a combined 30 points in 26 games against the Sens over the course of their careers. Shutting down those two will be key.
• Game time is 8:00 p.m.

Head-to-Head Stats

Data from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.