Game 78 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Detroit Red Wings

The race to last place is on, as the Ottawa Senators will be facing another bottom-of-the-barrel team in the Detroit Red Wings. Of course, neither team will intentionally be trying to lose, although with the playoff picture long gone, and the standings tight in the NHL’s last six spots, this could potentially be the difference between having an 18.5% or 8.5% chance of picking 1st overall.

As it currently stands, Ottawa’s odds at the coveted #1 pick are 11%.

Guy Boucher will be deploying the same lineup as Thursday’s 3-2 overtime win against Florida. Ben Harpur is the healthy scratch on defence, as Erik Karlsson is back to travelling with the team. Marian Gaborik was diagnosed as week-to-week before last game, so it appears Colin White may be sticking around for the season’s final week.

Mike Condon gets the nod in net, and will face either Jimmy Howard or Jared Coreau at the other end (Jeff Blashill has yet to make the decision).

Game Notes

• After a stretch of rolling with Craig Anderson, it looks like we’re back to the game-by-game goalie rotation. This will be the sixth game in a row of rotation, although it goes all the way back to the beginning of the month (March 8th) if you count Condon coming in mid-game against Florida last week.
• To say this has been a rough season for Ben Harpur would be a bit of an understatement. Although he’s not known for his scoring, you’d hope he’d have more than a single assist in 38 games. Boucher has noticed, placing him as a healthy scratch. He’s on a one-way contract for the next two seasons, a move that we could’ve seen backfiring from a mile away.
• Although Colin White is one of Ottawa’s better-known prospects, he hasn’t exactly been having the dominant season that some were expecting. He broke a 15-game goal drought on March 23rd, although since then he’s picked up six points in his last four AHL games. Boucher didn’t shy away from giving him minutes on Thursday, with his 15:12 at 5v5 above players like Matt Duchene and Zack Smith.
• Ending this off on a more positive note, Mark Stone was back on the ice for this morning’s practice.
• And to avoid anyone turning on the TV at 7:00 with the game already finished, the puck drops at 2:00 p.m. today./

Here are some stats from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.

Player Stats

Team Stats