Game 71 Preview + Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins

Last night, the Ottawa Senators won a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins that they didn’t particularly deserve. Badly outshot and out-chanced, the Sens were rescued by Dylan Ferguson, a goalie making his first NHL start and only his second appearance in the NHL. If you believe in miracles, it’s the type of story that can serve as a precursor to the Sens’ magical run to the play-offs. But if winning their last match-up the Sens conquered one impossible hurdle, then they are on to a seemingly even bigger challenge: the Boston Bruins.

The 2022-23 Bruins, are you are likely aware, have put together one of the best regular seasons of all-time. They are on pace for over 130 points, and, try as I might, I cannot say that I see an area of weakness. The Bruins are, simply, very, very, very good. If the Sens want the meaningful games to continue, they’ll need another miracle tonight.

Since Ottawa played, and then traveled, last night, so no morning skate. Here’s how they lined up last night:

Sens lineup from the warmup in Pittsburgh.

Tkachuk Stützle Batherson
DeBrincat Greig Giroux
Brassard Pinto Gauthier
Brown Gambrell Watson

Sanderson Zub
Chychrun Hamonic
Chabot Brannstrom

Ferguson [Starts]
Sogaard

— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) March 20, 2023

DJ Smith did indicate in his media availability that a couple of guys were banged up, but I would expect to see a nearly identical lineup as last night. By the same token, it would be a pretty big surprise if Mads Sogaard wasn’t in net.

Game Notes:

• Though you wouldn’t know it from their line-up, the Bruins are actually battling a few injuries: Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, and Derek Forbort will all miss tonight’s game.
• The Bruins have only lost 16 games all year, but two of them were to the Sens. In the teams’ other match-up, Boston’s 3-1 victory on February 20th, Ottawa played well enough that Pierre Dorion was supposedly convinced to pull the trigger on the Jakob Chychrun trade.
• Though I wouldn’t say that any of the three defensive pairings covered themselves in glory last night, I do like the potential for this particular alignment. The Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub pairing has the potential to do great work in a true “shutdown” role./

Puck drop is 7PM EST, you can watch on TSN5, RDS2 or listen on TSN1200

Stats:

Team Stats