Game 3 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins
Will the Senators ever earn a regulation loss?
The Senators continue their road trip against the Bruins, trying to earn a second win and keep up momentum. Beating the Maple Leafs is fun, but most Sens fans aren’t much bigger fans of these Bruins. The Bruins for their part have beat the Sabres 4-0 and lost to the Capitals 7-0 so far this season, so who knows what they’re like.
Bruce Garrioch expects Paul Carey to be a healthy scratch for Brady Tkachuk, and for Mike Condon to start. Ryan Dzingel will be a game-time decision, so if he's out, look for Carey to draw back in. Here are the projected lines:
Boedker - Smith - Stone
Formenton - Tierney - Ryan
White - Pyatt - Paajarvi
Chabot - DeMelo
Lajoie - Ceci
Borowiecki - Wideman
Condon (starter)
Anderson
Some thoughts:
- Mike Condon amazingly gets his first-ever start in his home state of Massachusetts. Hard to believe considering his career has been almost entirely in Ottawa and Montreal.
- Brady Tkachuk will also get his first NHL game in the same city as his first year of college. Look for a big afternoon from him.
- Colin White’s reward for looking pretty good in his first couple games is to get stuck on the fourth line. Amazing what making more money will do for you.
- I’m fairly comfortable with all three of this d-pairings. The problem is I imagine Boucher will consider the Ceci pairing the shutdown one.
- Will Ben Harpur ever find his way into a game? It will take a terrible game from one of the non-leaders (Lajoie or Wideman, probably) in my opinion. /
Stats (via NaturalStatTrick.com and NHL.com):
Team Stats
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Boston | Bruins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 4.00 | 7th | 2.00 | 19th |
| Goalst against/GP | 3.50 | 20th | 3.50 | 20th |
| Shots/GP | 24.5 | 25th | 25.5 | 23rd |
| Shots again/GP | 40.0 | 29th | 34.5 | 22nd |
| Powerplay % | 20.0 | 17th | 33.3 | 6th |
| Penalty Kill % | 80.0 | 18th | 50.0 | 30th |
| Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted) | 48.11 | 21st | 47.82 | 22nd |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 48.39 | 22nd | 47.53 | 23rd |
Player Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | Boston | Bruins | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Thomas Chabot | 2 | Donato, Bergeron, Pastrnak, Chara | 1 |
| Assists | Chabot, Dzingel, Duchene, Smith | 2 | Brad Marchand | 4 |
| Points | Thomas Chabot | 4 | Brad Marchand | 4 |
| Shots | Thomas Chabot | 6 | David Pastrnak | 9 |
| TOI/GP | Cody Ceci | 22:05 | Zdeno Chara | 22:16 |
