Game 43 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ New York Islanders

With two Eastern Conference wild card spots up for grabs, and nine different teams in the race, Ottawa Senators hockey has been, and will continue to be, extremely stressful.

Even the East's second-worst team in the New York Islanders are just five points back with a game in hand on the current number-two Wild Card team (Columbus), so a winning streak could see them vault up the standings into a playoff spot.

Which could definitely happen considering they play in a league that rewards teams for losing, but considering they've finally done the inevitable and run Ilya Sorokin into the ground, I'm not holding my breath.

Here's how the Sens are lining up tonight, with Leevi Merilainen making his third consecutive start:

And here's how the Isles lined up in practice yesterday, with confirmation that they'll be starting...MARCUS HOGBERG???

Game Notes:

• Hogberg was a 3rd-round selection of the Senators back in 2013, and had shown NHL potential with the club in the past, but without an established track record, a brutal 2021 campaign saw him return to Sweden for three seasons. As Trevor mentioned in yesterday's LNN, he won his first NHL game since 2021 this past Saturday. I'm not worried about his .950 save percentage in 4 games this year, but the fact that he's a former Sens goalie, well if you've been around the team enough you know that's a bad omen.
• Thank goodness Travis Green has reunited Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson. The results of those three haven't been great when they're separated. Not only have they outscored and outchanced opponents as a trio, but it allows for Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux to stay as a cohesive pair, a pair that has also been dominant throughout the year.
• The Islanders have been a good team at even-strength, but have been let down by special teams. Dead-last on the power-play and on the penalty kill. Recall, if you will, the last meeting between the two, in which the Sens allowed a mere 13 shots against, only to give up multiple power-play goals which lost them the game.
• For what it's worth, that game might've served as a wake-up call to the players and coaching staff, as the PK has been operating at a strong 85.4% in the stretch of games since then.
• You can catch tonight's game on TSN5, RDS2, and TSN 1200, at 7:30 pm EST.

Stats:

• from NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com: