Game 35 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ Winnipeg Jets

Generally, your favourite team losing the final game heading into a lengthy break is really tough, but this time around, Ottawa Senators fans can be content, as the team's 18-14-2 record is lightyears ahead of anything we've seen since 2017.

Going 3-1-0 in the first leg of a nine-game road trip has been crucial, as they'll be without Linus Ullmark for the remainder of the trip, featuring some of the toughest opponents the league has to offer.

Tonight, it's the Winnipeg Jets, winners of 7 in their last 10 games, and are tied for the league lead on the back of – get this – high scoring and great goaltending.

Here's how the Senators will line up tonight, with the undefeated Mads Søgaard starting in goal:

And here are the projected lines for the Jets, featuring Connor "why doesn't he have a back injury?" Hellebuyck starting in goal:

Game Notes

• Aside from Ullmark, Ottawa has largely leaned on depth contributions (most notably Shane Pinto and Nick Cousins) to vault themselves back into contention. Meanwhile, their top players have slowed down of late – in the last 6 games, Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, and Drake Batherson, have 3, 2, 2, and 2 points respectively. At least one of them is due for a monster game.
• Søgaard has about the same chance of stopping a breakaway or 2-on-1 as he does a seemingly harmless floater from the point, so the Sens should focus on playing as dominant of a possession game as possible tonight. The Jets aren't great at supressing shots and chances, ranking in the bottom half in terms of shots and chances against.
• Of course, with a team that has a real chance at a playoff spot, you're going to obsess over the out-of-town scoreboard, regardless of how little a single game means in the grand scheme of things. The Sens could fall out of a playoff spot tonight with a regulation loss combined with a Pittsburgh win over the Islanders, albeit Ottawa will still only be a point back with two games in hand.
• Elsewhere, we're hoping the Boston Bruins are a consistent bunch, having lost 6-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday, and are playing the same team again tonight. The Tampa Bay Lightning losing to the New York Rangers would also be ideal, though less so of it means the Rags start to figure it out and charge up the standings.
• It's an early start for a Western Conference road game – 7:00 pm EST, available on Sportsnet 360, CityTV, and TSN 1200.

Stats

• from NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com