Game 37 Preview: Capitals @ Senators
Capital vs Capital
After a long break, the Sens came back last night with a disappointing performance against the New Jersey Devils. Tonight, they return home to face Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Back to back games have not been friendly to the Sens this season so it will be interesting to see how they respond tonight. The Capitals also played last night so that may even up the chances for the Senators. Neither team practiced this morning but below are the projected lineup per NHL.com:
Senators Projected Line Up
Tierney - Duchene - Boedker
Dzingel - Smith - Ryan
Paul - Paajarvi
Chabot - DeMelo
Falk - Ceci
Borowiecki - Jaros
Harpur
McKenna (starter)
Hogberg
Game Notes:
- Marcus Hogberg was called up from Belleville this morning, it is believed Anderson sustained an injury last night and with the Sens not playing again until Friday it doesn’t hurt to give him some rest. Boucher will guve an update at 4PM where we will get more clarification on the situation.
- As of 3:55, the only update on the goalie situation is from Chris Stevenson who is reporting that Hogberg’s call-up is due to Craig Anderson being ill today.
- Mark Stone is on a 4 game point streak so look for him to continue the streak tonight.
- Mike McKenna has been playing good enough hockey but how will he react to facing the forces of Ovechkin and Backstrom?
- Pheonix Copley is expected to start in net for the Caps tonight. That name is just brilliant./
Team and Player stats courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick:
Team Stats
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Washington | Capitals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 3.28 | 9th | 3.59 | 4th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.89 | 31st | 3.00 | 16th |
| Shots/GP | 28.9 | 25th | 29.7 | 24th |
| Shots Against/GP | 37.9 | 31st | 31.9 | 20th |
| Powerplay % | 21.9 | 12th | 24.1 | 8th |
| Penalty Kill % | 73.6 | 30th | 76.0 | 27th |
| Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted) | 42.87 | 31st | 48.62 | 22nd |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 43.30 | 31st | 48.43 | 23rd |
Player Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | Washington | Capitals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Mark Stone | 16 | Alex Ovechkin | 29 |
| Assists | Thomas Chabot | 27 | Nicklas Backstrom | 30 |
| Points | Mark Stone | 40 | Alex Ovechkin | 43 |
| Shots | Thomas Chabot | 95 | Alex Ovechkin | 135 |
| TOI/GP | Thomas Chabot | 24:20 | John Carlson | 25:31 |
Game tonight will be at 7:00PM and can be watched on SN360, City TV and NBCSAWA.