Game 68 Hub: Ottawa Senators vs St. Louis Blues
Either they win or the Golden Knights playoff odds get worse. Win-win!
If I told you three years ago that the Ottawa Senators were 9th in shots per game and 17th in shots against per game, the reaction would be fairly positive. Not dominant by any means, but above average. It means they're turning a corner, right? Yeah no.
Tonight they'll look to avoid a third-straight loss, at home against the St. Louis Blues (36-30-3), who are coming off a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Tuesday. They're only 4 points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the West's final wildcard, so a Sens loss tonight has an even bigger consolation prize than usual.
Expect Anton Forsberg to start in goal for Ottawa tonight, with the lines potentially remaining the same from Tuesday depending on further updates.
Game Notes
- Not that it matters because the shot count is irrelevant, but the Sens are better in both categories - St. Louis is 25th both in shots for and against per game. They get these fun things called "goals" and "saves" and " a 70-point player" which is why they're on the playoff bubble.
- Despite a career year overall, Mathieu Joseph has struggled with 3 assists and a -7 rating in his last 12 games. He's shown he can be a good third-line forward more often than not, but I really hope the Senators don't expect more from him than that and decide to give him a permanent top-six role next season.
- It’s Pride Night tonight! After all of the acrimony surrounding last year’s Pride Nights around the league, it’s refreshing to see the Sens continue to put their weight behind a worthy cause.
- Tonight's 7:00 pm EST game is available on RDS, TSN5, and TSN 1200.
Stats
Game 68 | Senators | Blues | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Category | # | Rank | # | Rank |
Goals/GP | 3.13 | 16th | 2.80 | 26th |
Goals Against/GP | 3.57 | 28th | 3.01 | 17th |
Shots/GP | 32.3 | 9th | 28.6 | 25th |
Shots Against/GP | 30.1 | 17th | 32.3 | 25th |
Powerplay % | 16.9 | 26th | 17.8 | 25th |
Penalty Kill % | 72.7 | 31st | 78.9 | 20th |
Corsi % (5v5 SVA) | 49.38 | 20th | 44.74 | 30th |
xGF % (5v5 SVA) | 49.03 | 20th | 43.23 | 30th |
Game 68 | Senators | Blues | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Player | # | Player | # |
Goals | Brady Tkachuk | 31 | Pavel Buchnevich | 24 |
Assists | Tim Stützle | 47 | Robert Thomas | 50 |
Points | Tim Stützle | 64 | Robert Thomas | 73 |
Shots | Brady Tkachuk | 292 | Jordan Kyrou | 207 |
Time on Ice/GP | Thomas Chabot | 23:48 | Colton Parayko | 23:48 |