Game 18 Preview + Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Toronto Maple Leafs

The Ottawa Senators may still be in the league’s basement, but as far as I and many other Sens fans are concerned, they won their version of the Stanley Cup two nights ago, when they won their fourth game of the season, an electrifying comeback from down 5-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re now 3-2 in the only games that count, i.e. those against Toronto and Montreal, and will look to improve their record tonight.

The big question going into this game is which version of the Senators will show up tonight: the one we saw in the first 39 minutes of the last game, or the one we saw in the third and overtime. It looks like DJ Smith is counting on the latter, as the lineup for tonight’s game is almost exactly the same as the one the Sens put out on Monday. Hogberg starts in goal again.

Game Notes:

• Erik Brannstrom is in for Christian Wolanin, after missing a few games due to injury. I would’ve liked to see them both in the lineup, but it’s nice to see Brannstrom back, and Wolanin hasn’t looked great recently, so maybe this will help.
• Tim Stützle led all forwards in ice time on Monday, and based on DJ Smith’s comments this morning, it looks like that’s likely to be the case again tonight. Stützle hasn’t been putting up many points recently, but he had a lot of really good chances last game and he’s looked very confident with the puck. I don’t love that he’s still playing with Derek Stepan, but I’ve liked his chemistry with Drake Batherson, so hopefully that translates into some offense this game.
• We still have yet to see Joey Daccord this season, even though Murray is now out with an injury and Hogberg has been inconsistent, to say the least. I was expecting him to get at least one start during this Leafs series, but there’s always tomorrow. He’ll be serving as Hogberg’s backup tonight.
• Josh Norris is still being buried on the fourth line, after starting the season as the first line centre on a line with Tkachuk and Batherson. I understand wanting to spread out the offense and I think it’s worked pretty well so far, but it doesn’t seem like the Sens are getting the most out of him. We’ll see if anything changes tonight.
• The Leafs’ lines for tonight’s game:/

SORRY I'M NOT PERFECT EVERYONE:#Leafs lines at morning skate:

Thornton-Matthews-Marner
Hyman-Tavares-Nylander*****
Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Engvall
Vesey-Boyd-Spezza

Rielly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Bogosian
Marincin-Lehtonen

Andersen
Hutchinson https://t.co/qbIXrm5CPd

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 17, 2021

Stats (per NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com)

Team Stats

Player Stats

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