Senators - Canadiens look ahead
Written by: Sens Buzz
After battering them like a piece of fish on a Thursday night in Kanata, YOUR Ottawa Senators are preparing to face the cowering Montreal Canadiens in what should be an entertaining Tuesday night bout. This is a move reminiscent of Matt Kassian's services being called upon when the Sens had versus the Leafs over a decade ago. The Montreal Canadiens' plans to avoid embarrassment at the Centre Bell won't be to out-score, out-defend, or out-work the Senators - that would not fit the culture they're looking to build. No, the Montreal Canadiens will fight for their lives through all 6"4 240lbs of Arber Xhekaj (jack-EYE).
Yes, after losing 6-2 to the Ottawa Senators, the most logical thing to do is fight the Sens of course. As a divisional opponent of the Canadiens, I am happy that this is the rationale employed by their front office. While I can and will tell you that I'm not worried about this move at all - wait no that's just it, I am not worrying about this at all, and I don't think the Senators are either.
While his goonery and tom-foolery have impressed at lower levels of hockey as a behemoth man amongst boys, the Senators haven't and probably should continue not to give him the time of day. In his conquests of Ottawa that Habs fans constantly rave about - he has put up an impressive zero goals, zero assists and two penalty minutes, and boasts a -5 +/- rating in three regular season games played against the Ottawa Senators. His lacklustre presence is usually because by the time he's ready to kick off, the Senators have already run away with the game and honestly, an AHL-level defenceman just isn't worth the time. While he'll be chasing around Brady Tkachuk like always, I hold out hope that we get to see Xhekaj-Kastelic II who last got tangled up in a 2022 Preseason match.
While Justin Barron will make way for the massive defensive liability, the Canadiens have also waived Mitchell Stephens for the return of Tanner Pearson. A much more noteworthy move as Tanner Pearson has 10 goals and three assists in 25 career games against the Ottawa Senators.
The Senators are 3-1-1 in their last five games heading into tonight's battle, and to the pleasure of many Sens fans are finally trending in the right direction. This will be only their second game of operating at full strength, minus Anton Forsberg and Dominik Kubalik who will be a question mark tonight as well (or at least at the time of writing). During this stretch since last Saturday, for what it's worth, the Sens have been the best team in the NHL in the categories of Corsi percentage and expected goals and scoring goals. While defensively leaving a lot to be desired, impressive outings against the Jets and Flyers most recently have spurred an inkling of hope for the future of this group.
Just like versus the Flyers, the Senators may find themselves in a favourable position against the Habs as they will look to counter the Stützle - Norris - Pinto line with the Suzuki - Monahan - Evans line now that Stephens will likely miss tomorrow's match. The potential for favourable matchups will present itself for the Senators, unless Suzuki plans on playing 60 minutes, the Senators will benefit from a miss-match at center ice. Someone to be on the lookout for to take the reins and command a game like this one will be Jakob Chychrun/Thomas Chabot. If we are to expect Sanderson and Zub to take the boatload of responsibility once again, it's fair to expect Chychrun or Chabot, or both, to dominate against significantly weaker competition. Though it has not worked thus far, there were signs of promise and genuine chemistry between the pair in these last two games.
