Game 19 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Toronto Maple Leafs
This three-game series will have its winner, tonight.
After two tightly-contested games, the latest instalment of the Battle of Ontario will decide the victors of this three-game set. The Ottawa Senators (4-13-1), winners of Monday’s game, will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (12-3-2) again tonight, after being bested in a close finish yesterday evening.
The Leafs narrowly beat the Sens by a final of 2-1, after Ottawa’s epic 6-5 comeback victory on Monday. Somewhat surprisingly, the Senators have taken the fight to Toronto for much of the past two games, carrying the play, and at times putting the Leafs on their heels. If this continues, expect a hard-fought finale, tonight.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm EST, and you can catch this one on Sportsnet Ontario, TSN5, and RDS. As always, Dean Brown and Gord Wilson will have the radio call on TSN 1200.
Given the quick turnaround, and impressive performances yielded by the past two games, it would seem like a safe bet that D.J. Smith will ice the same lineup as last night, provided everyone is healthy. The lone caveat is that Artem Anisimov was assigned to the team’s taxi squad, today, and Matthew Peca was recalled to the NHL roster. It stands to reason that Peca will see his first action tonight.
The starting goaltender is always a question mark, but with Matt Murray having played last night, and Marcus Hogberg’s recent turnaround, it seems likely that the latter will start tonight’s contest.
Expect Ottawa’s lineup to fill out something like this.
Paul - White - Dadonov
Stützle - Stepan - Batherson
Anisimov - Tierney - Watson
Chabot - Zaitsev
Reilly - Zub
Brannstrom - Gudbranson
Hogberg (starter?)
Murray
As always, here are some stats. Courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick:
Player Stats
| Game 19 | Ottawa | Senators | Toronto | Maple Leafs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Evgenii Dadonov | 6 | Auston Matthews | 14 |
| Assists | Josh Norris | 7 | Mitch Marner | 16 |
| Points | Brady Tkachuk | 11 | Mitch Marner | 23 |
| Shots | Brady Tkachuk | 75 | Auston Matthews | 67 |
| Time on Ice/GP | Thomas Chabot | 25:29 | Morgan Rielly | 23:47 |
Team Stats
| Game 19 | Ottawa | Senators | Toronto | Maple Leafs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | # | Rank | # | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 2.28 | 29th | 3.53 | 4th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.94 | 31st | 2.65 | 9th |
| Shots/GP | 31.7 | 4th | 29.3 | 24th |
| Shots Against/GP | 31.4 | 21st | 27.9 | 6th |
| Powerplay % | 11.9 | 27th | 32.7 | 3rd |
| Penalty Kill % | 75.0 | 24th | 79.3 | 19th |
| Corsi % (5v5 SVA) | 50.62 | 14th | 49.32 | 16th |
| xGF % (5v5 SVA) | 48.91 | 20th | 50.91 | 16th |
Game Notes:
- Matthew Peca’s insertion into the lineup could provide a bit of a boost to the fourth line. While he’s far from a play-driver, he has more upside than Anisimov at this point, and can move his feet better, as well.
- Keep an eye on the tandem of Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson. They’ve generated a ton of offence together over the past couple games, and should probably have a few more goals to their credit.
- Much to the chagrin of Leafs fans, it looks like Michael Hutchinson will be starting in goal, tonight. Brace yourselves
- I hope there are some changes made to Ottawa’s second powerplay unit. Anisimov and Derek Stepan just weren’t cutting it. I’d like to see Nick Paul or Chris Tierney get a look.
- Artem Zub has been phenomenal, and so has the 13-36-63 line. Definitely players to watch/