Pre-Season Game 5 Preview & Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ Vancouver Canucks
The Sens get their rematch after a 6-4 loss.
The Ottawa Senators get their rematch against the Vancouver Canucks, after losing 6-4 to them on Monday. The rosters will be fairly similar to the last gane, although Ottawa is bringing back their top line of Brady Tkachuk, Colin White and Connor Brown. Logan Brown and Drake Batherson are also playing and expected to be on a line together, while Thomas Chabot and Erik Brannstrom will quarterback the team from the back-end.
Here’s the full projected roster:
Roster update: The #Sens have published a 22-player roster ahead of tonight's pre-season game @Canucks. pic.twitter.com/BPsNQVN3WV
— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) September 25, 2019
Game Notes
- The Sens’ special teams have been disastrous the last two games, failing to score on nine power play attempts, and conceding seven goals while on the penalty kill. But it’s pre-season, so the tinkering won’t really begin until the main roster is finalized.
- On the Canucks’ side, Brock Boeser and Oscar Fantenberg are both still in concussion protocol in the aftermath of Monday’s game.
- An early difference I’ve noticed with D.J. Smith compared to Guy Boucher is his willingness to keep lines together. While the Boucher Blender would be in full force by the third period, Smith is instead giving lines time to develop chemistry, and see what works and what needs to be switched. Some pairings have worked out better than others so far, so it’ll be interesting to see how long his leash is with new players like Nikita Zaitsev, and rookies like Batherson and Brannstrom.
- In some former Sens news, Chris Wideman and Patrick Sieloff cleared waivers earlier today.
- Game time is 10:00 PM, and will be broadcast on Sportsnet One./