Game 28 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Edmonton Oilers

With a 7-5 record in their last twelve games, the Ottawa Senators haven’t given us too much to complain about recently. You could argue they took their foot off the gas in the third period during yesterday’s win, allowing the Calgary Flames to force a shootout, but to me, it looked like a round of Mario Kart out there, with the Senators being pelted by a barrage of blue shells, i.e. questionable penalty calls. And they still won somehow.

You can say they were outplayed at even-strength, but if you can’t score more than one goal on eight power-play opportunities against a bottom-five team, you don’t deserve two points.

Besides, the Senators have outplayed opponents on numerous occasions this year, finding new ways to lose in the process. Case in point, tonight’s opponent, the Edmonton Oilers. Four games thus far, all losses, all pre-Sickos era. Though I think you’ll find that the Senators deserved a few points in that series. I mean, they held Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl pointless in the fourth meeting, only to be brought down by goals you’d expect to see in the 80s.

Their luck is bound to turn around eventually, but on a second-half of a back-to-back, a win tonight won’t be possible unless the Senators can consistently break out of their zone without issue.

Joey Daccord will start tonight, with Mikko Koskinen confirmed for the Oilers. Matthew Peca will replace Artem Anisimov tonight. Aside from that, nothing changes from how they lined up yesterday:

#Sens forward lines and D pairings for March 6’s practice in Calgary:

Tkachuk - Tierney - C. Brown
Paul - White - Dadonov
Stützle - Norris - Batherson
Dzingel - Anisimov - Watson
Peca

Chabot - Zaitsev
Reilly - Zub
Brannstrom - Gudbranson
Wolanin - J. Brown

— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) March 6, 2021

As for the Oilers, expect them to roll out these combinations from their practice yesterday:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Yamamoto
Ennis-RNH-Puljujarvi
Shore-Khaira-Turris
Neal-Haas-Chiasson

*Kahun appears to be on the 5th line - With P. Russell and Nygard

— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) March 7, 2021

Stats (from NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com):

Team Stats

Player Stats

Game Notes:

• Anisimov is day-to-day with a minor injury; Peca has been recalled from the taxi squad, he’ll likely draw in. Evgenii Dadonov remains in the lineup./

Roster update: The #Sens have made the following roster move:

C Matthew Peca has been recalled from the team's taxi squad under emergency conditions.

— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) March 8, 2021

• Erik Brännström played just 5:19 yesterday, an indicator that D.J. Smith doesn’t trust him to kill penalties. I don’t think he’s been bad defensively this year, so I’d give him a shot in that role sooner than later. The low ice-time against Calgary means he’s relatively fresh compared to others in the lineup, and if the Senators decide to play him tonight, that could lower the disadvantage of being on a back-to-back.
• After a slow start to the season production-wise, Colin White now has 6 points in his last 7 games. All the while, he’s been strong at both ends of the ice, while posting a 52.92 expected goals % at 5v5.
• Ryan Dzingel has two goals in two games with the Sens, so you know what that means. Two more second-round picks, baby!
• You can catch tonight’s game at 9:00 PM EST, on TSN5, RDS2, or Sportsnet West./