Game 35 Hub: Ottawa Senators at Edmonton Oilers

Rock bottom keeps getting lower. It's one thing to miss the playoffs this season, it's another to be on pace for a paltry 68 points, which would be their lowest total since 2018-19. Even during that COVID-shortened 2020-21 season where they were dreadful for so long, they still had a 75-point pace. The Senators just had a five-game road trip where they went 0-5 (and it cost DJ Smith his job), and they are on another five-game road trip where they have started 0-2 against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.

They did have a win in Toronto against the Maple Leafs sandwiched in there, but the Senators are a dreadful 1-7-0 in their last 8 road games, and 3-9-0 overall since beating Detroit to get to 11-11-0. A 14-20-0 record is essentially insurmountable to overcome, and at this point, it's hard to know where Ottawa can go from here.

They headed from Seattle to Edmonton, and at 10:00 Eastern they'll have to face the red-hot Oilers who have won six straight games and are 14-3-0 in their last 17 games. Here is how the Senators lined up at practice last night, with these potentially being used in the game as well:

Sens lines from their practice in Edmonton today.

Tkachuk-Norris- Batherson
Tarasenko-Stützle- Giroux
Kubalik-Greig-Kelly
Smejkal-Kastelic- Crookshank
Joseph

Sanderson-Chychrun
Chabot-Zub
Brannstrom-Hamonic
XXXX-JBD

— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) January 5, 2024

Here were the Oilers lines:

Oilers lines & pairings at practice:

RNH - McDavid - Hyman
McLeod - Draisaitl - Foegele
Kane - Ryan - Janmark
Erne - Hamblin - Brown
Gagner

Nurse - Ceci
Ekholm - Bouchard
Kulak - Desharnais

Skinner
Pickard

Team is set to host Ottawa tomorrow. #Oilers

— Tony Brar (@TonyBrarOTV) January 5, 2024

Game Notes:

• This isn't the Oilers team that looked like cellar-dwellers at the beginning of the season. As I mentioned, they're 14-3-0 in their last 17 games and their first in the league in xGF% at 57.67%. They have holes, but this is a dangerous team.
• In those 17 games, five Oilers are averaging over a point per game: Connor McDavid (37 points), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (22 points), Zach Hyman (20 points), Leon Draisaitl (19 points), and Evan Bouchard (18 points). Quite the offense.
• Ottawa usually does very well against the Oilers as they were 16-6-1 from 2005-2020. Then came the COVID season...they went 0-9-0, and are 2-2-0 after that dreadful season. Somehow that still leaves them at 18-17-1 since the 2005 lockout and 12-7-0 in Edmonton.
• Anton Forsberg was in the starter's end at practice yesterday, but that could change before game time. Both Forsberg and Korpisalo will have a good game and then have a clunker the next game, so I don't see any point in worrying about who's starting, to be honest.
• Based on where this team is, I'd think that Dominik Kubalik and Vladimir Tarasenko are on a bit of a tryout for any teams that are interested in them. Both are UFAs in the summer and although Tarasenko has good character and decent point totals, their combined money can be better spent elsewhere.
• Tim Stützle has just 1 goal in his last 12 games and has 7 overall on the season. He's still playing well overall, and his 7.1% shooting percentage (career 13%) won't last forever. Still, no would dispute he can put his game into another gear.

Stats: