Game 8 Preview: Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators
The Sens look to tie the season series at 1-1
After a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, the Senators face off against another division rival tonight. The Boston Bruins, looking to snap a three game losing skid, will roll into the CTC and try to halt Ottawa’s three game winning streak.
The Bruins, led by their dynamite top line of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, defeated Ottawa fairly handily just 15 days ago. They doubled up the Sens, winning 6-3, and dominated the shots on goal totals.
Ottawa has gone 3-1 since that contest, while the B’s have faltered, going 2-3.
Puck drop is at 7:30, and you can catch the game on TSN5, RDSI, and NESN if you feel like having Jack Edwards perforate your eardrums.
Roster Notes
It appears that the Sens are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, as the injuries that ravaged them a week ago are starting to mend.
Rookie Alex Formenton makes his return to the lineup tonight, following a concussion he suffered against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 10th. Cody Ceci is still not quite ready to go, and Ben Harpur is out after being unable to finish yesterday’s practice, so Guy Boucher and Co. will roll with 12 forwards and six defenders tonight.
Craig Anderson gets the start in between the pipes.
Here are tonight’s lines and pairings, based on this morning’s skate. Jaros will obviously play in Ceci’s spot on the bottom pairing.
Game Day Skate Lines:
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) October 23, 2018
Boedker Duchene White
Dzingel Tierney Stone
Paajarvi Smith Pyatt
Formenton Carey Ryan
McCormick
Chabot DeMelo
Borowiecki Wideman
Lajoie Ceci
Jaros
Anderson starts.
A Few Notes
- Saturday’s game against the Habs marked the first time this season that Ottawa outshot their opponent, winning the total 34-27.
- As per Ian Mendes, Sens brass have told Colin White to find a place in Ottawa, as he’s earned a permanent spot with the big club.
- Guy Boucher told the media this morning that he won’t hesitate to use rookie Christian Jaros against the Bruins top line, so we’ll see how that goes.
- It also sounds as if Boucher may be using a line of Paajarvi, Smith, and Pyatt to match against Marchand, Bergeron, and Pastrnak. Again, we’ll see how that goes. /
Here are some stats from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.
Player Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | New Jersey | Devils | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Ryan Dzingel | 5 | Kyle Palmieri | 9 |
| Assists | Thomas Chabot | 14 | Taylor Hall | 12 |
| Points | Thomas Chabot | 17 | Kyle Palmieri | 15 |
| Shots | Lajoie, Maxime | 35 | Taylor Hall | 40 |
| TOI/GP | Thomas Chabot | 22:34 | Sami Vatanen | 23:06 |
Team Stats
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Vegas | Golden Knights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 3.56 | 7th | 2.10 | 30th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.89 | 28th | 2.60 | 8th |
| Shots/GP | 28.7 | 26th | 33.3 | 8th |
| Shots Against/GP | 36.2 | 30th | 24.3 | 2nd |
| Powerplay % | 24.1 | 13th | 9.4 | 30th |
| Penalty Kill % | 67.7 | 29th | 81.5 | 11th |
| Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted) | 43.07 | 29th | 58.80 | 2nd |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 43.92 | 29th | 57.37 | 3rd |