Game 34 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators vs Calgary Flames
After a four-day layoff, the Sens are back in action!
Following their first true extended layoff of the season, the Ottawa Senators (10-20-3) are back in action tonight, for the first time in four days. They begin the final three contests of their six-game homestand, with the Calgary Flames (15-14-3) coming to town once again.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7pmEST, and you can catch this one on TSN5, RDS2, and Rogers’ Sportsnet for our friends in the Flames’ region. As always, Dean Brown and Gord Wilson will have the call on TSN Radio 1200.
Since firing Geoff Ward and hiring Darryl Sutter, Calgary is 4-3-1, coming off of a hard-fought weekend series split with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sens, meanwhile, have claimed points in their last three games, with a win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, and two extra time losses to the Vancouver Canucks. A two-gamer in which they likely should have come out with at least one win, were it not for Thatcher Demko.
With Joey Daccord likely lost for the season, Filip Gustavsson took this morning’s skate in the starter’s net, and it appears that newly-claimed Anton Forsberg will back him up tonight. Erik Gudbranson will be sitting in favour of Josh Brown, with DJ Smith expressing a desire to get Brown into a game. Colin White should resume his regular role, if he’s good to go after being injured last week.
Expect the Ottawa lineup to fill out as such:
Stützle - Norris - Batherson
Paul - White - Dadonov
Dzingel - Bishop - Watson
Chabot - Zaitsev
Reilly - Zub
Wolanin - J. Brown
Gustavsson (starter?)
Forsberg
Game Notes:
- Anton Forsberg’s last NHL appearance came as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, on March 7th, 2020; a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Islanders, in which he stopped 24 of 26 shots.
- Forsberg also backstopped the Belleville Senators to a 5-1 win over the Toronto Marlies on Saturday, stopping 33 of 34 Toronto shots.
- Tim Stützle has three points in his last five games, and is starting to look lethal on the powerplay.
- The Flames are one of two teams that the Sens hold a winning record over this season, at 3-2-0. The Montreal Canadiens are the other.
- Expect Jakob Markstrom to start for Calgary.
- On a somewhat unrelated note, the Sens wore mismatched socks at practice yesterday to recognize World Down Syndrome Day. Awesome gesture by the team: /
"It's an important cause and I'm glad we did it as a team to show support." #WorldDownSyndromeDay pic.twitter.com/sOdjt0Wxze
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 21, 2021