Game 7 Preview: New Jersey Devils @ Ottawa Senators
If you’d told me before the season started that the Senators would be sixth in the east after six games, I probably would’ve taken it. If you’d told me the Devils would’ve been one of those teams ahead of them, I would laughed in your face. But here we are, with the 3-1-2 Sens hosting the 5-1-0 Devils.
Here are the projected lines for tonight:
Ryan - Brassard - Stone
Smith - Turris - Dzingel
Hoffman - Pageau - Pyatt
Burrows - Thompson - Brown
Phaneuf - Karlsson
Oduya - Ceci
Claesson - Wideman
Anderson (starter)
Condon
Some thoughts, but not very many, since it’s almost game time:
- Logan Brown gets into his second game tonight. Let’s see if he can play more than 10 minutes
- Erik Karlsson showed very little rust last game. Let’s see if he passes 25 minutes tonight
- It’s interesting to me that Boucher keeps starting Craig Anderson. I’m not bothered by it, I just assumed he would’ve liked to see more out of his backup early in the season
- The league’s third-best offence meets the league’s second-best defence tonight. It’s weird seeing New Jersey as a high-scoring team
- The Devils’ ice-time leader is Steven Santini, who I have never heard of in my life /
Here are tonight’s stats, via NHL.com except Corsi/Fenwick from NaturalStatTrick.com:
Team Stats
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Montreal | Canadiens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Value | Rank | Value | Rank |
| Goals/GP | 3.64 | 5th | 2.00 | 31st |
| Goals against/GP | 2.64 | 8th | 3.82 | 29th |
| Shots/GP | 32.4 | 13th | 38.8 | 1st |
| Shots against/GP | 32.4 | 16th | 31.2 | 9th |
| Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted) | 45.25 | 31st | 52.52 | 6th |
| Fenwick (5v5, SVA) | 48.53 | 20th | 52.79 | 6th |
Player Stats
| Category | Ottawa | Senators | Los Angeles | Kings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -- | Player | # | Player | # |
| Goals | Derick Brassard | 6 | Anze Kopitar | 6 |
| Assists | Erik Karlsson/Bobby Ryan | 6 | Jake Muzzin/Dustin Brown | 6 |
| Points | Derick Brassard | 10 | Dustin Brown/Anze Kopitar | 11 |
| Shots | Mike Hoffman | 36 | Dustin Brown | 32 |
| TOI/GP | Erik Karlsson | 24:36 | Drew Doughty | 25:21 |
