Game 69 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Montreal Canadiens

Lately, things are coming together nicely for the Sens. After a long and frustrating season, this young team is giving us a glimpse of what could be coming with some dazzling performance from the likes of Josh Norris, Mathieu Joseph and Anton Forsberg among others. While there isn’t much meaning to the games themselves, it’s fun to see this team develop into the team we’re hoping to see in the near future.

Tonight, it’s a battle of two teams at the bottom of their division. While the Canadiens have officially been eliminated from the playoffs, bragging rights are always up for grabs when these two teams meet.

Anton Forsberg will be getting the start tonight with the rest of the lineup looking as such:

Game Notes

• The story of the past week has been the performance of Josh Norris. He has been consistently good throughout this season, but his recent burst of offense has us all wondering if this will carry forward into next season — and what that might mean for his next contract.
• The Sens may live to regret not signing Artem Zub long term, he has progressed quite nicely throughout this season and continues to impress.
• While Sens fans are excited to see Jake Sanderson on the ice, the Sens are doing the right thing by not rushing him into a game just yet. News that he has moved in with Brady Tkachuk was a nice touch as the youngster settles in with his new team.
• The Sens and Habs are 7 points apart with the Sens having a game in hand. Some may argue that a Habs win tonight may help keep them away from the coveted first overall pick but considering we’ve been in “tank mode” for a few years now, isn’t it more helpful to see our young guys win now?
• Both Joseph and Travis Hamonic are settling in quite well with their new team and have praised the Sens for the smooth transition and being able to quickly adapt to the structure. People are still settling on their opinion of Hamonic but Joseph has proved to be quite the spark for this team. Could Joseph further impress by having another great performance against the Habs?
• While the Habs have been getting better performances from players like Cole Caufield, it seems the key to beating them is simply containing Suzuki as he leads the team in all major offensive categories.
• You can watch the game tonight at 7 on TSN2, RDS or listen live at TSN 1200.

Game Stats