As the Senators were battling the Leafs in Toronto last night, the Vancouver Canucks were back in Ottawa resting up for tonight's matchup.
The Matchup: Vancouver Canucks (9-2-1, second in the Pacific) at Ottawa Senators (5-6-0, last in the Atlantic)
Faceoff: Thursday, November 7th, 2023, 7 p.m. (TSN 5, TVA Sports)
The Teams: It's a battle between the best and the third-best offences in the NHL. The Vancouver Canucks lead the way with 4.5 goals per game while the Senators are close behind, averaging 4 goals a night.
The difference between the teams is mainly their ability to keep the puck out of their net. The Canucks are allowing just two goals per game, which ranks them 2nd in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Senators love track meets and have allowed 3.45 goals per night, ranking them 23rd in the NHL. This game at the Canadian Tire Centre should be up and down with plenty of goals.
The History: The Canucks are 3-1-1 in their last five games versus the Senators and won the season series last year 2-0-0. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson have destroyed Ottawa as members of the Canucks, with Pettersson tallying 15 points in 11 games against the Sens, while Miller has 18 points in 15 games.
What's New? The Canucks are off to a flying start and maybe the hottest team in the NHL, with their big guns leading the way. They're also getting incredible goaltending from Thatcher Demko, who has posted a .948 save percentage and 1.61 goals-against in 9 games.
Simply put, their stars have been stars.
The core four of Pettersson, Miller, Quinn Hughes, and Brock Boeser have led the charge, all scoring at a point-per-game clip or better. Pettersson is second in the league in points with 21, Hughes leads the league in points by a defenceman with 20, and Boeser is second in the league in goals with 10, behind only Auston Matthews. Miller rounds out the team with 18 points, which is good enough for 8th in the league. No other team has four players in the top 20 in points overall.
The Senators are coming off one of their biggest wins of the year, beating their Ontario foes, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-3 on Wednesday night – despite the speculation surrounding the future of their head coach, D.J. Smith. They were led by the line of Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, and Mathieu Joseph, who combined for 10 points.
Joonas Korpisalo was steady in net, with 27 saves on 30 shots, including a beautiful diving glove save on an Auston Matthews breakaway late in the first period.
The Senators have had terrible Novembers the last couple of years. The win over the Leafs means they're 1-2-0 in November and back to within a game below .500 on the season.
Joseph sang the praises of how Giroux led the Senators to victory.
"He's a leader for our team, and he's a gamer," Joseph said. "He's a guy that we can rely on day and night. There's not enough to say about how good of a leader he is for our team."
It was reported that Senators' head coach, D.J. Smith, got a hug from owner Michael Andlauer after the Leafs' game. Smith was asked about the turmoil surrounding the team and his job lately.
"Not easy," Smith said. "But it is what it is. It's the NHL, the best league in the world,".
The Senators catch a break by dodging Demko. But backup Casey DeSmith is no slouch either (.914 save percentage) and is expected to get the start against Ottawa's Anton Forsberg (.863).
The Injury Front: Artem Zub was a game-time decision but did not play on Wednesday night. It is unclear if he will return to the lineup on Thursday. If he does play, expect Nikolas Mantipalo to draw out of the lineup. Ridly Greig, Mark Kastelic, Erik Brannstrom, and Thomas Chabot are all expected to be out for Thursday's game with injury.
Probable Line Combinations:
Tkachuk – Norris - Batherson
Joseph- Stutzle – Giroux
Kubalik - Chartier- Tarasenko
Kelly – Jarventie – MacEwen
Sanderson- Zub
Chychrun – JBD