Game 21 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Detroit Red Wings

After being run over a little by the Sabres and Jack Eichel in the second game of the weekend’s back to back, the Senators look to rebound in Detroit. They face a Wings team that points in each of their last five games, but is still tied with Ottawa at 17 points.

Max Veronneau was called up yesterday. The reasons weren’t fully clear at the time, but then Bobby Ryan left practice yesterday and was confirmed as being out due to injury this morning by DJ Smith. Smith also said that Erik Brannstrom is nursing an injury picked up in practice yesterday so Cody Goloubef draws in instead.

Today’s morning skate was announced as optional, so here are the lines from yesterday, adjusted based on today’s injury update.

Game Notes

• Lots of talk about this around the various media outlets, but I’ll ask it here as well: Is this about the best case scenario for a rebuild right now? They’re (mostly) in games, winning some, but still only one point out of last place and the best lottery odds that come with it
• Veronneau looked decent to me in his NHL time last season, it’ll be nice to see what he does with his chance this season
• Mark Borowiecki (?) is second in points (??) among Ottawa’s D (???) - three more points to tie his career high
• I think we’re legally required to mention Filip Zadina every time Ottawa and Detroit play for at least the rest of this season - he’s out of the (AHL) lineup due to injury right now
• It’s a 7:30 start time, with viewing options of RDS2, TSN5 and the radio call on TSN1200/

Here are some stats for tonight’s matchup from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick:

Player Stats

Team Stats