Game 35 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators vs Calgary Flames

After an exciting game on Monday that ended with Filip Gustavsson grabbing his first NHL win, the Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames are back at it again. This will be the first of a back to back for the Sens, where they’ll play the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow. Playing two of our favourite teams back to back? What did we ever do to deserve this?

Unfortunately, the win didn’t come with a price. Austin Watson was badly injured blocking a shot and the final prognosis came in this morning from DJ Smith:

DJ Smith - Austin Watson will be out 4 to 6 weeks with his injury. Its a hand/thumb injury.

— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) March 24, 2021

Watson had done a tremendous job blocking shots in particular on the PK. He seems to be very well liked in the dressing room so it’s a loss that many are unhappy about and an addition to an ever-growing injury list.

With Watson being out, Alex Formenton will finally get another shot in the NHL! It is exciting to see what the kid has to offer now that he’s been seasoned quite a bit in the AHL.

The assumption is that Filip Gustavsson will play tonight but does that mean newly acquired will debut with the Sens against the Leafs or will DJ Smith play Gustavsson back to back?

Brady Tkachuk and Mike Reilly took a maintenance day off yesterday but the expected lineup should be as follows:

Game Notes

• The Calgary Flames lost 2 very crucial points on Monday and I expect them to come out extremely angry tonight.
• With the loss of Watson and Formenton’s PK capabilities in Belleville (according to our BSens expert, Spencer), it’ll be interesting to see how comfortable DJ Smith will be in using him in that role.
• I think the best way for Formenton to impress DJ Smith is to make his presence truly memorable, a goal or even a smart play leading to a goal will immensely help. Realistically, we just hope he doesn’t take a penalty or gives away the puck because, well, Brännström knows too well what happens next.
• Tim Stützle is 6 points away from the point lead in the rookie race. He has been playing great hockey, but he’s second on the team in assists and fourth in total points in a very tight race. Safe to say, most fans don’t care about Stützle’s Calder trophy prospects if he continues to play like this. I still feel it’s about time he got a hat trick ;)
• It’s an odd start time today, you can watch the game at 5 PM on TSN5, RDS or listen live on TSN1200/

Team Stats

Player Stats