Game 22 Hub: Calgary Flames @ Ottawa Senators

After playing the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets five times each, it feels like the Senators have gotten quite familiar with everyone in this division. However, we’re 21 games into the season and they still haven’t played the Calgary Flames. That changes tonight, as the Flames are in Ottawa for the next three games until Monday night. With the way that some of these Canadian mini-series have been going, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see some bad blood come up with this new opponent.

Ottawa is surprisingly 4-2-0 in their last 6 games, although 3 of those wins came in overtime or a shootout, with the lone regulation win against Winnipeg happening thanks to a last-minute goal from Brady Tkachuk. So they haven’t been destroying teams, but they have certainly been playing well enough to get better results than they were in January. At the bare minimum, they have been playing fun and watchable hockey, which you could not have said for their first 10 games.

Here are what the lines are expected to be tonight against the Flames:

Game Notes:

• This will be just the fifth matchup between the Tkachuk brothers, with Brady having 2 goals and 1 assist in the previous 4 games, and Matthew having 1 goal and 2 assists. Symmetry.
• The Flames are coming off of an OT loss last night in Toronto where they blew a 1-0 lead with 1:28 to go. I feel like that is either very good news or very bad news for the Senators. It just depends on how strong the Flames are mentally, because they will either be very motivated to make up for it or will be deflated the day after.
• Drake Batherson has 6 points in his last 5 games, with a goal and an assist in each of the last two. I think he’s clearly arrived for good.
• Logan Brown was recalled after the Senators placed Derek Stepan on the IR, and Brown is apparently healthy now. I bet he will get into game action on either Saturday or Monday.
• Artem Anisimov draws into the lineup for Stepan instead of Brown, and I’m not sure he’s the best fit to centre Stützle and Batherson. I can’t imagine that trio lasting long.
• Matt Murray will start his 15th game of the season and it will be his 17th appearance in 22 games, which is quite the workload. I wonder if Joey Daccord will start a game soon?
• This stat is quite interesting, and I wonder how many goals Ottawa can keep it up for:

• The Flames are 1-3-1 in their past 5 games, with an overall mediocre record of 9-9-2. They sit 5th in the division (sorry, Scotia North Division...gotta get that sponsorship in there) and are 2 points back of the 4th place Montreal Canadiens but they have 2 more games played. Although the season isn’t at its halfway point, Calgary will have to begin playing with some urgency.
• In non-game roster related moves, it looks like Filip Chlapik’s time with the organization has reached it’s final 24 hours. He has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purposes of mutually agreed contract termination.

Puck drop is 7:00 EST and you can watch it on TSN2, TSN3, or RDS.