Game 48 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins

It's quite funny how differently fans react after each game depending on if the Ottawa Senators win or lose. After the weekend, playoffs were all but guaranteed. After an embarrassing 5-0 drubbing in New York, suddenly it's time to ring the alarm bells. I don't disagree that that was an awful loss for the Senators and that the lack of offense has been concerning, but they begin the day in a playoff spot and there is so much time left this season.

Having said that, tonight's game is another big one—as will be all of the games the rest of the way. The Senators just faced the Boston Bruins at home on Saturday and beat them in one of their best wins in years after scoring two goals with the net empty and winning in a shootout. Just five days later, the division rivals meet up again, this time in Boston. Boston played last night in New Jersey and lost 5-1, so Ottawa is getting a tired team travelling home. They'll need to be much better than they were on Tuesday in New York.

Here is what the lines were on Wednesday morning, with Jake Sanderson and Nick Jensen having rest days. So I'd expect Sanderson to be with Zub and Jensen with Chabot as usual, with the forward lines the same as this post:

These were the Bruins lines last night, with potential changes being made:

Game Notes:

• Josh Norris will miss the next few games with an undisclosed injury. It looks like the injury happened when he fell down at centre ice on Tuesday, but everyone thought that was a cut on his chin. Perhaps "upper body" could mean a mild concussion, but regardless, missing him for a few games will hurt.
• David Perron makes his long awaited return, and hopefully he can provide an offensive spark. Perron has only played nine games for the Senators due to injuries and off the ice family health scares, so he's barely been a part of the team. With the team scuffling offensively for a while, it'd be nice if he becomes somewhat of a missing piece. He sits first on the team in xGF% at 61.06% so he was at least providing chances despite the 0 points.
• Speaking of the offense, something has to give. Brady Tkachuk is pointless in eight games, Drake Batherson has two goals in 19 games, Tim Stützle has four goals and two assists in 14 games, the list goes on and on. They sit 24th in goals for per game, with the number plummeting over the last month. Their shooting percentage is dead last over the last 14 games at 7.14%, and they've scored 10 fewer goals than expected—that isn't going to last forever. It's still frustrating to watch in the moment.
• Nick Cousins is on the first line with Stützle and Batherson, which obviously won't be a long-term thing, but I don't mind trying something to work in the short-term. They need something different.
• Jeremy Swayman started last night, so there is a decent chance that Ottawa will get Joonas Korpisalo in net tonight. Let's hope he doesn't follow the trend of former Senators goalies playing out of their minds against Ottawa. Korpisalo has an .891 SV% in 16 games for Boston—0.001 better than he was in Ottawa!
• The Bruins are 3-1-1 over their last five games but had gone 0-5-1 in the previous six games. Looking at their roster, I really don't see how they're better than Ottawa anymore.

Player Stats:

Team Stats: