Game 44 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Detroit Red Wings

The Sens go from first to worst in terms of opponents, with a visit to the Detroit Red Wings tonight.

Lots of moving parts on the roster going in to this one. First, Nick Paul has gone back to Ottawa for treatment for his injury in Washington. Ron Hainsey had a good practice yesterday, and if he’s good again today he could be in the lineup tonight. Christian Jaros was sent back to Belleville yesterday, presumably in anticipation of Hainsey coming back in. Filip Chlapik was called up, likely due to the Paul injury. Mark Borowiecki missed yesterday’s practice due to illness, but is expected to play. No updates on Nikita Zaitsev.

Yesterday’s lines at practice looked like this:

Game Notes

• The Sens may be tied for second last in the league, but resist the urge to look at this game as a tank battle, Lafreniere-bowl, etc - a team would have to run an ECHL roster for the rest of the season to “catch” Detroit at the bottom
• Tonight it’s you vs the guy they told you not to worry about
• Jokes aside, Filip Zadina has a pair of goals in his last two games and third on the Wings for goals per 60 minutes of play. I don’t think anybody would take him over Brady Tkachuk anymore, but he is showing some signs of life on a pretty barren roster
• Lots have things have left a lot to be desired in the past few games, but goaltending stands out among them. The goalies have put up a combined .855 in this losing streak, and no single game over .900
• The power play also continues to stink - one goal in 13 tries in the same stretch
• One more “roster change”... The Sens pup, Rookie, has finished his time with the team and is heading back to the CNIB for the rest of his training

• It’s a 7:30 start, and you can watch the game on RDS or TSN5

As always, here are some stats. Courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick: