Heading into this season, we would have liked to have had this game circled as a scheduled ‘W’ but with two losses and a minus-seven goal differential to their name this past week, the Ottawa Senators probably shouldn’t throw any rocks from their glass house. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and ask who really looks like a toilet team. (The answer is both right now).

Game Notes:

• First and foremost, congratulations to Mark Kastelic who gets to play an NHL game in his hometown. That seems really flippin’ cool, especially for someone who took the long road to professional hockey in the first place and comes from somewhere where they don’t play that much hockey.
• The Senators have the opportunity (please don’t mess this up) to get to a clean 41 points in 41 games. It ain’t a playoff spot but looks better on paper than a losing record.
• With that in mind, Ottawa has the statistical advantages almost across the board, with special teams in particular favouring Ottawa. I should note that the Coyotes convert more chances at five-on-five but then again so does just about every team in the NHL. Uninspiringly for Ottawa, Arizona also has enjoyed comparable five-on-five goaltending so maybe the Sens should get that cleaned up at some point.
• Ottawa also deserves some credit for cleaning up their game and getting to a point when they draw more penalties than they take. Early in the season, minor infractions really plagued this team./

Expected and Actual Goals

• Injuries for Ottawa: Rourke Chartier, Mathieu Joseph, Tyler Motte, Josh Norris, Nikita Zaitsev
• Injuries for Arizona: Andrew Ladd, Matias Maccelli, Liam O’Brien
• If the Coyotes lines below look bizarre then I should probably clarify that Andre Tourigny hit the ol’ 7-11 last time out. I—don’t miss those days at all./

Where to watch/listen: TSN5, RDS2, TSN1200 @9PM EST

Lines from Last Game:

Ottawa Senators

Arizona Coyotes

Stats:

Players

Teams