Game 39 Preview & Open Thread: New Jersey Devils @ Ottawa Senators
Back on the ice after six days off
The Senators had a longer break than most teams, with an extra two gameless days after the Christmas break.
Since the last game, there’s been a bit of roster movement. Max Lajoie was sent down on Christmas Eve, and Logan Brown was sent down yesterday. J.C. Beaudin was also sent down on Christmas Eve, but was recalled yesterday along with Christian Jaros.
Ron Hainsey was back on the ice for practice on Friday, but is expected to miss a few more games with his knee injury.
Here are the lines from yesterday’s practice:
Ennis - Tierney - Duclair
Namestnikov - Anisimov - White
Paul - Beaudin - Sabourin
Chabot - Goloubef
Borowiecki - Brannstrom
Englund - Jaros
Anderson (starter)
Hogberg
Game Notes
- P.K. Subban trade rumours were heating up before the roster freeze, including one saying that an Atlantic Divison team was interested. The roster freeze lifted yesterday - we really, really shouldn’t, but could we see a “walk across the hall” trade before the game today?
- “Really, really shouldn’t” doesn’t mean after the game instead, either, ok Pierre?
- Remember when the belief was that the Devils had under-achieved last year and had improved in the off-season? Whoops
- May #Dukecember continue. With two games left to go this month, Anthony Duclair is still holding on to the goal scoring title for the month and he’s inside the top 10 for the season to date
- If your Christmas wish was a competent power play, we should get an idea if it was granted today. The Devils are fifth in penalty minutes per game
- Note the start time - it’s a 5pm game, on RDS2 and TSN5/
Stats, as always, are courtesy of naturalstattrick.com and nhl.com:
Player Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | Calgary | Flames | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Anthony Duclair | 21 | Elias Lindholm | 20 |
| Assists | Thomas Chabot | 23 | Johnny Gaudreau | 25 |
| Points | Anthony Duclair | 32 | Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau | 38 |
| Shots | Brady Tkachuk | 167 | Johnny Gaudreau | 141 |
| Time On Ice | Thomas Chabot | 26:34 | Mark Giordano | 24:11 |
Team Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | Florida | Panthers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Rank | # | Rank | |
| Goals/GP | 2.77 | 22nd | 3.49 | 5th |
| Goals against/GP | 3.25 | 23rd | 3.36 | 28th |
| Shots/GP | 29.8 | 24th | 33.3 | 7th |
| Shots against/GP | 33.1 | 29th | 32.1 | 21st |
| Powerplay % | 11.2 | 31st | 23.0 | 9th |
| Penalty Kill % | 81.5 | 13th | 78.2 | 22nd |
| Corsi % (5v5, Score and Venue Adjusted) | 46.65 | 28th | 49.59 | 19th |
| Fenwick % (5v5, SVA) | 47.61 | 24th | 50.29 | 15th |