Game 28 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Philadelphia Flyers

The Sens face off against a fellow basement-dweller for a change

After an improbable run that saw Ottawa digging up from the depths of despair of November, and defeating four of the top teams in the league in early December, the Sens suffered a hard-luck loss against Tampa Bay this past Thursday. Tonight we’ll see if Ottawa has actually turned over a new leaf in this calendar month or if they revert to their November ways of getting mired in the quicksand against lesser opponents.

The still-hot Anton “Horny Dog” Forsberg will get the start again and Jacob Bernard-Docker will draw into an otherwise unchanged lineup from Thursday:

The Flyers ran these lines this morning:

Game Notes:

  • Of note for Ottawa, the Senators have placed Nikita Zaitsev on injured reserve, hence JBD drawing in tonight.
  • The Senators will not get to face off against former teammates Derick Brassard (scratch) and Nate Thompson (IR).
  • After getting stonewalled by the Lightning’s top netminder on Thursday, the Sens will face the Flyers backup, Martin Jones, as Carter Hart (who has enjoyed a resurgent season to date) will miss tonight’s game due to illness. To my knowledge, tonight the Flyers will dress a backup goalie other than Jones or Hart for the first time this season.
  • Philadelphia has gone 3-2-1 since Mike Yeo replaced Alain Vigneault on December 6th.
  • Also of note since these two teams last played, the Flyers’ front office has overhauled the roster substantially with Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, Nolan Patrick, and Robert Hagg leaving town; and Cam Atkinson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Keith Yandle, and Ryan Ellis (IR) coming in.
  • It bears mentioning that for all their struggles this season, and even without Hart in the net tonight, the Flyers still have decent top-six (including pending UFA Claude Giroux).
  • In terms of the actual match-up, Ottawa’s good powerplay and bad penalty kill will lock horns with Philadelphia’s bad powerplay and good penalty kill. Neither of these teams thrives at five-on-five and Ottawa has a bit of an edge in terms of penalty differential./

Where to watch: SN1, SN360, TSN1200 @ 7PM EST

Stats

Players

Game 28OttawaSenatorsPhiladelphiaFlyers
CategoryPlayer#Player#
GoalsJosh Norris14Cam Atkinson12
AssistsDrake Batherson19Claude Giroux14
PointsDrake Batherson28Claude Giroux24
ShotsBrady Tkachuk78Cam Atkinson79
TOIThomas Chabot27:01Ivan Provorov24:18

Teams

Game 28OttawaSenatorsPhiladelphiaFlyers
CategoryRank#Rank#
Goals19th2.7626th2.58
Goals against31st3.5822nd3.14
Shots27th28.5616th30.95
Shots against29th33.3631st34.30
Powerplay12th20.0%26th16.3%
Penalty Kill25th77.3%12th81.3%
Corsi31st44.4%23rd47.3%
xGoals28th45.7%30th45.3%

Not everyone can afford to pay for sports coverage right now, and that is why we will keep as much of the site's content free for as long as we can.


But if you are able to, please consider subscribing to help keep our articles free (and get a few extra perks).

Erik Condra
  • Ability to comment and participate in our community
  • Twice monthly newsletter available only to subscribers
  • Ad-free reading
  • Our undying love and appreciation
Brady Tkachuk
  • Everything from the Erik Condra tier
  • 10% discount on all merch
  • Access to any future paywalled content
  • A personal thank-you from the Silver Seven staff
Daniel Alfredsson
  • Everything from the Brady Tkachuk tier
  • Inner peace knowing you are supporting quality, independent coverage of your favourite sports team