Game 25 Preview and Open Thread - Ottawa Senators @ Dallas Stars

Find someone who loves you the way the Ottawa Senators love sleepwalking through the first 40 minutes of a hockey game. I don't see much of a point in recapping what happened (again) last night. Two games below five hundred and nowhere to go but up, baby! (Unless the Sens slide even farther below five hundred which seems like a distinct possibility). Let's rock!

Game Notes

• On the one hand, the Stars have only have shmaverage, shmegular goaltending to date this season but on the hand I just chopped off, the Senators' netminders have seemingly forgotten that they need to stop the pucks heading in their general direction.
• Dallas last played on Monday and handily defeated Detroit in Texas. I don't really know what to make of the Stars, opponents have blown out the Stars in three of their last ten game but Dallas also blew out the Lightning and shut out the Jets last week so yeah, difficult to get a pulse here.
• Shout out to the Stars who have no injuries of note to report. What's that like? The Sens got Mark Kastelic back last night but still don't have Thomas Chabot on the ice. Not a trade I'd make on a regular basis (and by that I mean ever).
• The Sens get the privilege of facing off against two of the funnier characters in franchise history in Matt Duchene and Evgeni Dadonov. And I don't mean funny as in ha-ha but more in the sense that Ottawa forfeited first round picks on both of them and other people laugh at us because of it.
• Looking at the tables below, you'll notice that Dallas has elite special teams that should strike fear into the hearts of Sens fans. For what it's worth (literally nothing) the Sens generate about as much as Dallas on the powerplay in terms of expected goals but the Stars have shot five percent higher and that'll do it.
• Likewise on the PK, the Sens actually allow less in terms of expected goals but the Stars have a solid 10% advantage in shorthanded save percentage. Results outweigh expectations. Also, you absolutely need to reckon with the Stars as a shorthanded threat to score with six shorties (to Ottawa's one).
• Mediocre goaltending aside (not that Ottawa can say anything anyway) Dallas has some of the best five-on-five numbers in the league, especially defensively speaking. Not that you need to hear it from me, but Ottawa really needed those two points last night because the Stars have the potential to absolutely pants Ottawa tonight.
• GO SENS GO (please)

Where to watch/listen: TSN5, RDS, TSN1200 @ 8PMEST

Lines from Last Game

Ottawa Senators

Dallas Stars

Stats