Game 50 preview and open thread - Ottawa Senators versus Utah Hockey Club

Remember last weekend how the Ottawa Senators pulled off two improbable wins in two days to gain a comfortable hold on a playoff position? I enjoyed that. I would like to experience that feeling again. Ottawa finds themselves halfway to the task with a 2-1 win Saturday night and will have the rest-disadvantage against a Utah team that lost 5-2 in Winnipeg on Friday.

I had the privilege of recapping the last meeting between these two teams as Anton Forsberg got the shutout in Utah for the Sens' first visit to Salt Lake City. Ottawa didn't necessarily deserve to win that game but Forsberg played really well and Connor Ingram did not. In my game summary I noted that Ottawa did well to shut down Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley (the not-Coyotes roster drops off steeply after that top line). I would hope Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub get that assignment on home ice.

Presumably Leevi Meriläinen gets the start 22 hours after last night's game. Nick Cousins is out "a while" per head coach Travis Green, so we'll see if Josh Norris or else a callup gets his spot.​

Game Notes

• Karel Vejmelka is pretty good. When Utah wins, Vejmelka usually contributes to said outcome. When Ottawa's goalies play well, the Sens get similarly good results. And when Ottawa's goalies play poorly, you know.
• Utah generates more five-on-five offence than Ottawa (most teams do) and Ottawa does a better job suppressing five-on-five expected goals.
• Both teams have pretty forgettable special teams and I found it surprising that Utah takes more penalties than Ottawa (both teams draw similar amounts of penalty minutes).
• As Ary noted yesterday, Ottawa can't really lean on injuries as an excuse in January. Utah arguably has worse injury issues than Ottawa with their number one defensive pairing on the shelf and one of their best young forwards.

Senators Injuries: Jacob Bernard-Docker, Nick Cousins, Noah Gregor, Nick Jensen, Josh Norris, Cole Reinhardt, Linus Ullmark, Nick Cousins

Utah Injuries: Robert Bortuzzo, Sean Durzi, Dylan Guenther, Mikhail Sergachev

Where to watch/listen: TSN5, RDS2, TSN1200 @5PM EST

Lines from Last Game

Ottawa Senators

Utah Hockey Club

Stats

5:00 PM