Game 21 Hub: Calgary Flames @ Ottawa Senators

It's a good time to play the Calgary Flames, I think. An upstart team who are on a four-game winning streak and due for a loss – the exact opposite of the situation the Sens have faced this last week in losses to the Oilers (shut out the night before), Golden Knights (shut out the night before), and Canucks (coming off a tough defeat against the Rangers).

What goes around, comes around... right?

To their credit, I imagine the Senators don't give a shit about karma right now. Based on the post-game audio from Saturday night's draining defeat against Vancouver, it sounds like every player is being asked to give a bit more as the team attempts to right the ship before the calendar flips to December. Winning three straight allows them to finish with a November record of 6-8, instead of the current 3-8 (or worse), and given the massive pileup of teams still in the mix early on this NHL season, that would be significant for this group.

Let's see if they can do it.

Lineups:

Another game, another loss, another lineup shuffle by the Sens coaching staff; with no morning skate, here are the lines from yesterday's practice:

Anton Forsberg gets the start tonight, per Daily Faceoff. Meanwhile, here's how Ryan Huska's Flames lined up their last time out – a 4-3 shootout win against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night:

Game Notes:

• For those comparing the lines from Saturday night to now, there's almost been a complete reshuffle. In fact, the only duos who are still playing together are Giroux and Batherson, who are now centred by Josh Norris instead of Tim Stützle, and Amadio and Perron, who are with call-up Zack Ostapchuk.
• Brady Tkachuk is back up with Tim Stützle, with Adam Gaudette getting a well-earned promotion. Meanwhile, Ridly Greig and Nick Cousins are together to cause mayhem and potentially distract opposing defenders from Shane Pinto, who hasn't looked like himself after returning from injury a few weeks ago.
• On defence, everyone has a new partner. The awful Sanderson-Hamonic pair are together, while Tyler Kleven gets a more capable veteran partner in Nick Jensen. Artem Zub has a broken foot and is expected to be out "a while" per Travis Green, so Jacob Bernard-Docker is likely the one paired with Thomas Chabot.
• Over to Calgary, the Flames are one of the most surprising teams in the league this year. Ryan Huska and co. have a young squad in second-place in the hotly contested Pacific Division – one point behind the Golden Knights – despite a lineup full of inexperienced players, especially on defence. Through my quick look at the statistics, it doesn't appear that Calgary's success is primarily due to good luck, either. Yes, they have a league-leading 0.942 save-percentage at 5-on-5, but they're only shooting 6.97% too – ranked 27th. They're middle of the pack in terms of shot attempts (50% CF% ranked 15th) and just a bit worse in terms of expected goals (48.68% xGF% ranked 22nd).
• Who's playing above expectations? Mainly newcomers! Two ex-Golden knights, Daniil Miromanov, a 27-year-old RD who came over in the Noah Hanifin trade, and Brayden Pachal, a 25-year-old RD who was claimed on waivers, have been outstanding on defence. Moreover, ex-Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko and second-year pro Matt Coronato have really fit in well. Don't look at where Coronato was drafted in 2021.
• On the flipside, veterans Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri continue to be in the downswing of their career.
• How many games can the Sens get "goalie'd" in a row? Maybe facing one of the early season Vezina favourites in Dustin Wolf will grant them the same luck it did when they faced the only goaltender with a higher save-percentage than him right now, Anthony Stolarz, which was the last time this team won a game.

It's a 7:30pm ET start tonight. For those watching on TV, note that this is on Amazon Prime as one of the team's rare Monday night affairs.