The Ottawa Senators are back in action on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre, trying to snap a four-game losing slide and begin the long climb back to relevance in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
And if the Senators cannot pull points away from the visiting Vancouver Canucks, the last-place team in the entire NHL, losers of four straight games, recently trading away their captain, and in game two of a back-to-back situation, then we’ll be getting awfully close to waving the white flag on this season.
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Ottawa enters the night at 20-19-5, sitting seven points (and seven teams) out of a wild card spot, tied for last in the East with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who just fired their head coach this week.
Vancouver is in even worse shape at 16-24-5, the very worst record in the league.
That makes this more than just another January game. For the Senators, it almost feels like a final chance to stop the slide before it turns into something much bigger.
Goaltending still the biggest question mark
The Senators’ biggest problem all season has been inconsistent goaltending, so management made a move Monday by officially signing 37-year-old free agent James Reimer. Reimer won’t dress tonight, but he is expected to be available at some point this week.
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For now, the crease still belongs to Leevi Meriläinen, who will start against Vancouver, with Hunter Shepard backing him up. Ottawa is still waiting on Linus Ullmark, who remains on personal leave, but the team is hopeful he can return soon.
Sens-Canucks Trade talk?
This game also comes with a heavy layer of trade intrigue.
Senators general manager Steve Staios was in Montreal Monday night watching Vancouver’s 6–3 loss to the Canadiens, which raised more than a few eyebrows. With the Canucks sitting dead last in the NHL and already having moved star defenceman Quinn Hughes, they are clearly in sell mode.
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Two Vancouver blue-liners stand out: Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers.
With Hughes gone, Hronek now leads all Canucks skaters in ice time at over 24 minutes per night, while Myers plays more than 20 minutes a game. Hronek is signed for $7.25 million for the next four-and-a-half years. Myers has one-and-a-half years left at $3 million. Both have no-movement clauses, but when you’re on the worst team in the league, players tend to be more open to change.
On TSN 1200 on Tuesday, Darren Dreger also mentioned Kiefer Sherwood as a possible target. The 30-year-old forward has 17 goals this season and is on an expiring contract.
All of that makes Tuesday night feel like not just a must-win, but a bit like a scouting mission for the Sens.
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Ottawa is usually competitive in its losses, including a 3–2 defeat to Florida on Saturday, but the silver linings playbook needs to close. Moral victories are worthless, especially at home against a tired, 32nd-ranked team that’s in sell-off mode.
The Sens need wins, and they need them now.
Projected Lineups
Canucks (16-24-5)
Jake DeBrusk — Elias Pettersson — Linus Karlsson
Conor Garland — David Kampf — Brock Boeser
Liam Ohgren — Max Sasson — Drew O’Connor
Evander Kane — Aatu Raty — Nils Hoglander
Tom Willander — Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium — Tyler Myers
Marcus Pettersson — Victor Mancini
Kevin Lankinen
Nikita Tolopilo
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Scratched: Arshdeep Bains, P.O. Joseph
Injured: Thatcher Demko, Kiefer Sherwood, Marco Rossi, Filip Chytil, Teddy Blueger, Derek Forbort
Senators (20-19-5)
Fabian Zetterlund — Tim Stützle — Drake Batherson
Brady Tkachuk — Dylan Cozens — Claude Giroux
Ridly Greig — Shane Pinto — Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins — Lars Eller — David Perron
Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Jordan Spence
Leevi Meriläinen
Hunter Shepard
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Nikolas Matinpalo, James Reimer Injured: None
Final word
There will be plenty of talk about trades and the future, but Tuesday night comes down to one simple thing: a victory. The Sens are facing the worst team in hockey, at home, against a tired opponent. If they can’t get it done here, the long climb back to the playoff race may never even begin.
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Steve Warne
The Hockey News – Ottawa
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