Game 4 Preview + Open Thread: Capitals @ Senators
Sens look to keep the home stand rolling and get their first winning streak of the year
Is everybody still riding the high from Tuesday night? It feels like the whole city is.
Hopefully the team is too, and is able to roll that into another win for this home stand. Still have to get a few more in the W column if they want to truly avoid the “bad start” label this season.
There are no changes to the lines from Tuesday’s win. Anton Forsberg was missing from the morning skate so Hellburg was in the starter’s net, but DJ confirmed Forsberg was given the morning off and is the starter for tonight.
Morning skate lines for Sens vs Caps.
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) October 20, 2022
Tkachuk Stützle Batherson
DeBrincat Norris Giroux
Motte Pinto Joseph
Kelly Kastelic Watson
Brassard Gambrell xxxx
Chabot Zub
Sanderson Hamonic
Brannstrom Holden
XXXX Zaitsev
Meanwhile at the other end of the ice, Washington is without both Connor Brown (injury) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (suspension).
Game Notes
- The scoring floodgates opened up last game, but we still saw some rough play in the defensive end. Defensive structure falling apart has been my biggest concern so far in this young season, and needs to improve if they really want to contend
- A notable exception to the scoring floodgates is Alex DeBrincat. He’s not scoring (yet), but it’s not from lack of trying. He’s leading the team in every individual shooting metric at 5v5 (shots, corsi, expected goals, etc) but still has a donut in the G column. Only a matter of time before some of them start going in
- The power play feels like they’re dialing it in gradually. Game 1 had good puck movement, but couldn’t finish the cycle. Game 2 felt more like a scramble to get the shot off fast. Game 3 was a bit more balanced, but they couldn’t get the puck actually on the net. Work in progress...
- Shame that Connor Brown won’t be able to get an on-ice welcome back tonight
- Count me in the group that likes the Norris-Stützle swap. The second line does still needs to gel a bit more, but nice to see the top line shift from generating chances to burying them last game/
Player Stats
| Game 11 | Ottawa | Senators | Philadelphia | Flyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Brady Tkachuk/Shane Pinto | 6 | Travis Konecny | 4 |
| Assists | Brady Tkachuk | 9 | Kevin Hayes | 9 |
| Points | Brady Tkachuk | 15 | Travis Konecny | 11 |
| Shots | Alex DeBrincat | 47 | Travis Konecny | 33 |
| Time on Ice/GP | Thomas Chabot | 25:37 | Tony DeAngelo | 24:32 |
Team Stats
| Game 11 | Ottawa | Senators | Philadelphia | Flyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | # | Rank | # | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 3.7 | 5th | 2.60 | 30th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.6 | 24th | 2.70 | 6th |
| Shots/GP | 31.9 | 15th | 26.3 | 30th |
| Shots Against/GP | 34.3 | 25th | 36.7 | 30th |
| Powerplay % | 21.2 | 16th | 18.9 | 23rd |
| Penalty Kill % | 78.1 | 18th | 79.4 | 14th |
| Corsi % (5v5 SVA) | 51.76 | 10th | 38.22 | 32nd |
| xGF % (5v5 SVA) | 52.23 | 12th | 37.35 | 31st |
Catch the game at 7pm EST on TSN5, RDS Info or NBC Sports Washington for TV coverage, and TSN1200 for the radio call.
