Game 70 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ Buffalo Sabres

For a team like the Ottawa Senators in the mix for a wildcard spot, there are no such things as scheduled losses or trap games. There are only the ones you win, the ones you lose, and the ones you lose except it was close so here's a pity point because you tried really hard. God, I love the loser point so much.

Most importantly, the games are played one at a time, so the Sens need to focus their efforts as such. They haven't had much success on the road, or against the Buffalo Sabres this season, but the latter half of that is largely because the previous games between the two teams have coincidentally been two of Ottawa' worst efforts this season.

Stephen Halliday was called up from Belleville yesterday and practiced in Brady Tkachuk's spot on the top line, but the captain is expected to play tonight. Same for Artem Zub, who also didn't practice yesterday. Nick Jensen is potentially available to return tonight, while Anton Forsberg will face James Reimer in goal.

Lines from practice:

Game Notes:

• Buffalo's won 4 of their last 7 games, including victories over Winnipeg and Vegas, both of whom are better teams than Ottawa. But I don't think either team cares about losing to Buffalo given their positions in the standings.
• This will be Dylan Cozens' first game against the club that drafted him – since the trade he has 3 goals and 4 assists in 8 games. Josh Norris? Injured.
• There are a couple of crucial points available for our rivals tonight – the Habs are taking on another 8th place team in the Blues, while the Red Wings and Rangers are looking to claw their way back into the race with tough visits to Colorado and Los Angeles respectively.
• The Sabres are a high-scoring team that allows even more goals, so keeping up the improved scoring in the month of March will be crucial for the Sens. The number of players that have performed like top-six forwards this month has been very promising – aside from the usual suspects, David Perron, Mike Amadio, and Ridly Greig are all above 0.6 points per game.
• It's a 7:00 pm EST start tonight, and the game is available on TSN5, RDS2, and TSN 1200.

Stats: