Game 28 Preview & Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Vancouver Canucks

The Senators will try to stop their losing skid at half as many games as Montreal four in a row with a somewhat strange stop in Vancouver, between visits to Calgary and Edmonton.

Craig Anderson took a full practice yesterday and is eligible to come off IR today, but DJ Smith confirmed that it will be Anders Nilsson starting with Marcus Hogberg backing him up tonight. It also looks like Logan Brown will draw back in with J.C. Beaudin sitting this one out.

Game Notes

• The Canucks announced yesterday that Jacob Markstrom has been granted a leave of absence to attend his father’s memorial service. Deepest condolences to Markstrom and his family
• Markstrom’s absence means a call-up for former 67s goalie Michael DiPietro
• While he was a bit of a polarizing player in Ottawa, Alex Burrows is anything but in Vancouver. The Canucks are putting him into their Ring of Honour tonight
• Not strictly game related, but Borocop isn’t just a hockey nickname anymore after Mark Borowiecki helped stop a robbery in Vancouver yesterday. That is awesome in itself, but has also given us this:/

"Your move, creep." pic.twitter.com/sN7NtuRldx

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 3, 2019

• For some reason, Sens-Nucks games tend to get rough. They’ve been averaging over 20 combined penalty minutes per game for a few years now
• It’s a 10pm start, though likely delayed due to the Burrows ceremony. Your viewing options are TSN5, RDS (or Sportsnet Pacific in the Canucks region), and listening via TSN1200/

Here are some stats for tonight’s matchup from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick:

Player Stats

Team Stats