Game 81: Ottawa Senators at Buffalo Sabres
Final road game of the season
We have to come to the very end, the end of the road portion anyways. The Senators face divisional rivals Buffalo Sabres tonight in a game that hold very little meaning to both teams. The kids are making sure to take advantage of all the ice time they are getting and while it’s been a painful season, there have been some bright spots.
There is one thing for Sens to get really excited about tonight and that would be the debut of Joey Daccord who gets the start tonight. As you all know, Daccord signed an entry level on Monday expressing his loyalty to the Sens and surrendering his right to become a free agent, for now.
Projected Lineup per NHL.COM
Ducalair - Tierney - Lindberg
Balcers - White - Boedker
Gibbons - Smith - Paajarvi
Chabot - DeMelo
Wolanin - Ceci
Englund - Jaros
Daccord (starter)
Nilsson
Game Notes:
- Mark Borowiecki, Bobby Ryan and Ben Harpur are still injured/sick which on most teams would spell trouble, in the Sens situation it actually makes the team better.
- Brady Tkachuk flourished under Mark Stone and there were legitimate concerns about his performance after the trade. He is currently on a 4 game point streak and an extremely impact player every game. This kid, he can hold his own.
- The Sabres are on an 8-game losing streak and may want to end the season on a more positive note so I expect a little more fight from them tonight.
- Zack Smith is one assist away from 100. Is it just me or does it seem like he’s been in the league for a long time and should have had 100 by now? Not that 100 assists is a small feat but it’s still a bit surprising to me./
Team Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | Columbus | Blue Jackets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 2.96 | 16th | 3.09 | 12th |
| Goals Against/GP | 3.64 | 31st | 2.83 | 11th |
| Shots/GP | 29.6 | 25th | 31.7 | 16th |
| Shots Against/GP | 35.9 | 31st | 29.5 | 7th |
| Powerplay % | 20.3 | 14th | 15.4 | 28th |
| Penalty Kill % | 79.2 | 23rd | 85.0 | 2nd |
| Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted) | 43.97 | 31st | 50.64 | 11th |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 44.65 | 31st | 51.50 | 11th |
Player Stats
| Ottawa | Senators | Columbus | Blue Jackets | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Brady Tkachuk | 22 | Cam Atkinson | 41 |
| Assists | Thomas Chabot | 41 | Artemi Panarin | 57 |
| Points | Thomas Chabot | 54 | Artemi Panarin | 85 |
| Shots | Brady Tkachuk | 212 | Cam Atkinson | 288 |
| TOI/GP | Thomas Chabot | 24:13 | Seth Jones | 25:54 |