Game 50 Preview and Open Thread: Vancouver Canucks @ Ottawa Senators

In their 50th game of the season, the Ottawa Senators are finally playing consistently good hockey games. Led by young stars Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson, the Sens have been in it far more than they’ve been out of it down the stretch as they look to take a strong finish into an important offseason.

Tonight, right as our grandparents are cleaning up their dinner plates, the Canucks will visit the Sens for the final time in this odd season. The Sens are 2-4-2 against Vancouver so far this season but have beat them twice in their last three meetings, including a 3-0 shutout last week.

With no morning skate, Head Coach DJ Smith confirmed in his availability this morning that the lineup would remain unchanged from Ottawa’s win on Monday night. In usual fashion, the Head Coach didn’t explicitly confirm a starter but if the lineup remains unchanged, we will likely see Marcus Högberg make his second straight start.

Here’s how things will look for the 5:30pm puck drop:

Game Notes

• The Sens will be looking to continue their strong play of late, particularly from their top line of Norris, Batherson and Tkachuk who have combined for 16 goals and 17 assists through 13 games in the month of April.
• On the back end, all eyes will be on Erik Brännström and Artem Zub who have quietly impressed over their past few games together with strong defensive play and excellent puck movement.
• Since returning from injury, Högberg has posted a 0.950 SV% in two games in the AHL and followed that up with a 0.900 SV% in relief of Murray on Saturday and a 0.962 SV% win against Vancouver on Monday night. DJ Smith called Monday’s win Högberg’s best game of the season./

Team Stats