Game 68 Hub: Ottawa Senators vs St. Louis Blues

Either they win or the Golden Knights playoff odds get worse. Win-win!

Game 68 Hub: Ottawa Senators vs St. Louis Blues
Photo by Tiffany Cade / Unsplash

If I told you three years ago that the Ottawa Senators were 9th in shots per game and 17th in shots against per game, the reaction would be fairly positive. Not dominant by any means, but above average. It means they're turning a corner, right? Yeah no.

Tonight they'll look to avoid a third-straight loss, at home against the St. Louis Blues (36-30-3), who are coming off a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Tuesday. They're only 4 points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the West's final wildcard, so a Sens loss tonight has an even bigger consolation prize than usual.

Expect Anton Forsberg to start in goal for Ottawa tonight, with the lines potentially remaining the same from Tuesday depending on further updates.

Game Notes

  • Not that it matters because the shot count is irrelevant, but the Sens are better in both categories - St. Louis is 25th both in shots for and against per game. They get these fun things called "goals" and "saves" and " a 70-point player" which is why they're on the playoff bubble.
  • Despite a career year overall, Mathieu Joseph has struggled with 3 assists and a -7 rating in his last 12 games. He's shown he can be a good third-line forward more often than not, but I really hope the Senators don't expect more from him than that and decide to give him a permanent top-six role next season.
  • It’s Pride Night tonight! After all of the acrimony surrounding last year’s Pride Nights around the league, it’s refreshing to see the Sens continue to put their weight behind a worthy cause.
  • Tonight's 7:00 pm EST game is available on RDS, TSN5, and TSN 1200.

Stats

Game 68 Senators Blues
Category # Rank # Rank
Goals/GP 3.13 16th 2.80 26th
Goals Against/GP 3.57 28th 3.01 17th
Shots/GP 32.3 9th 28.6 25th
Shots Against/GP 30.1 17th 32.3 25th
Powerplay % 16.9 26th 17.8 25th
Penalty Kill % 72.7 31st 78.9 20th
Corsi % (5v5 SVA) 49.38 20th 44.74 30th
xGF % (5v5 SVA) 49.03 20th 43.23 30th
Game 68 Senators Blues
Category Player # Player #
Goals Brady Tkachuk 31 Pavel Buchnevich 24
Assists Tim Stützle 47 Robert Thomas 50
Points Tim Stützle 64 Robert Thomas 73
Shots Brady Tkachuk 292 Jordan Kyrou 207
Time on Ice/GP Thomas Chabot 23:48 Colton Parayko 23:48

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