Game 55 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Calgary Flames
Happy Mother’s Day!
If Matthew Tkachuk was annoyed with Tim Stützle before, I bet he’ll find Brady’s gushing over his hat trick against the Jets unbearable!
Can you believe we have two games left? That’s it! That’s the season! While it’s obviously disappointing that we won’t see the Sens anymore, it has been a nice change to actually enjoy the season through the wild performances, the incredible characters and of course Sicko nation!
Tonight’s game is crucial for the Flames. The Canadiens have not yet secured that final playoff spot and a Flames win could keep their playoff dreams alive. For the Sens, it’s another meaningless game where they’ll be playing spoilers and hoping to get more great performances from the young ones.
The Sens did not hold a skate today but here is the expected lineup:
Paul - White - Dadonov
Stützle - Pinto - Brown
Dzingel- Tierney - Abramov
Mete - Zaitsev
Brännström - Zub
Alsing - Bernard-Docker
Forsberg
Gustavsson
Game Notes
- By now we all know that Tim Stützle is the youngest Senator to score his first career hat trick! He did it, I’ve been waiting all season for it! Now can we get a Drake Batherson hatty?
- Shane Pinto has been quietly racking up some key points and really making a good case for his future with the team, hopefully he’ll be the wow factor for next season.
- It’s fun to win, but how are fans feeling about our draft spot? Do we want to sacrifice tonight’s game to put the Habs on edge? It’s so conflicting being the spoilers sometimes, especially when both a win and loss will spoil a chance for someone.
- Thomas Chabot’s absence was a concern but it’s nice to see the team manage well without him. It’s never healthy for the team to place so much pressure on the top defenseman (sorry Karlsson) and now maybe DJ Smith can learn to manage his ice time more sensibly once he’s back.
- You can watch the game tonight at 8:00PM on Sportsnet W, RDS 2 or listen live at TSN 1200/
Team Stats
| Game 56 | Ottawa | Senators | Toronto | Maple Leafs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | # | Rank | # | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 2.75 | 19th | 3.35 | 5th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.38 | 28th | 2.59 | 7th |
| Shots/GP | 29.7 | 17th | 31.1 | 7th |
| Shots Against/GP | 32.1 | 27th | 27.9 | 5th |
| Powerplay % | 15.9 | 26th | 20.3 | 16th |
| Penalty Kill % | 78.9 | 21st | 77.7 | 24th |
| Corsi % (5v5 SVA) | 48.5 | 21st | 50.92 | 11th |
| xGF % (5v5 SVA) | 50.18 | 22nd | 55.28 | 2nd |
Player Stats
| Game 56 | Ottawa | Senators | Toronto | Maple Leafs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Connor Brown | 20 | Auston Matthews | 40 |
| Assists | Thomas Chabot | 25 | Mitch Marner | 47 |
| Points | Brady Tkachuk | 35 | Mitch Marner | 67 |
| Shots | Brady Tkachuk | 214 | Auston Matthews | 214 |
| Time on Ice/GP | Thomas Chabot | 26:17 | Morgan Rielly | 23:41 |