Ottawa Senators (8-17-1)* at Edmonton Oilers (15-11-0)
*Prior to game at Calgary Flames Sunday
Tonight 7 p.m. Sportsnet
Wednesday 6 p.m. Sportsnet
Friday 7 p.m. Sportsnet
Season Series
Senators 0-4 GF 10
Oilers 4-0 GF 18
Previous Scores
Jan. 31 Ottawa 5 EDMONTON 8
Feb. 2 Ottawa 2 EDMONTON 4
Feb. 8 OTTAWA 1 Edmonton 3
Feb. 9 0TTAWA 2 Edmonton 3
TEAM SCORING LEADERS VS OPPONENT
SENATORS VS OILERS
Evgenii Dadonov 2-1-3 E
Brady Tkachuk 1-2-3 E
Colin White 1-1-2 -1
Mike Reilly 0-2-2 -2
OILERS VS SENATORS
Leon Draisaitl 2-7-9 +5
Connor McDavid 1-7-8 -1
Tyson Barrie 2-3-5 +5
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 1-2-3 E
FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
1.Who’s in net?
Dave Tippett has been riding Mike Smith but he insists he’s not just going to go with the hotter goalie so Mikko Koskinen could well get the start. Koskinen has only been in six games since Jan. 30 after being the workhorse early when Smith was hurt but he got the hook after three goals in 10 shots against Toronto last week. He has an .897 save percentage and 3.39 average, well back of Smith’s .925 and 2.29.
2. Calder rookie race
Tim Stutzle and Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov are the favourites through the first half. The Senators left-winger turned 19 in January with the Russian Wild forward having a 24th birthday next month so maybe Stutzle should get more love. The Ottawa teenager who dazzled for Team Germany here at the world junior championship, has 14 points, while Kaprizov, who was a big gun in the KHL for CSKA, has 19 points. Stutzle’s plus-minus (-14) hurts him. Kaprizov is plus-5
3. Another Tkachuk
The Oilers got their fill of Flames Matthew Tkachuk Saturday and his younger brother Brady drops by Monday to kick off the three-game set. Matthew is greasier around the net and gets under people’s skin more but Brady has more speed and certainly likes to shoot more. Brady surprisingly leads the NHL in shots with 114, with Connor McDavid second at 101 Brady has 16 points, Matthew 19.
4. Battle of blueliners
Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot and Oilers Darnell Nurse both play left D and are in the top five in minutes played. They’ve got comparable stats and both are candidates for the Canadian Olympic team. Chabot plays 25:36, Nurse 25:46. Nurse is No. 3 in average skater ice-time behind Brent Burns and Drew Doughty; Chabot is fifth. They both have 16 points but Nurse has six goals to Chabot’s three. Nurse on a much better team is plus-11, Chabot minus-8.
5. Same old, same old
McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the NHL’s best tag-team at centre, have been all over the scoresheet in the four meetings. Draisaitl has figured in nine of the Oilers 18 goals, McDavid eight. Playing them together has always been Tippett’s default if they fall behind and he did it for the last 40 minutes against Calgary. Off Sunday’s practice, it looks they’ll be double the trouble for the Senators, staying on the same line, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the middle on the No.2 unit.
PROJECTED LINES
OILERS
Leon Draisaitl — Connor McDavid — Kailer Yamamoto
Tyler Ennis — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Jesse Puljujarvi
Devin Shore — Jujhar Khaira — Kyle Turris
James Neal — Gaetan Haas — Alex Chiasson
Darnell Nurse — Tyson Barrie
Kris Russell — Adam Larsson
Caleb Jones — Ethan Bear
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
SENATORS
Brady Tkachuk — Chris Tierney — Connor Brown
Nick Paul — Colin White — Evgenii Dadonov
Tim Stutzle — Josh Norris — Drake Batherson
Ryan Dzingel — Artemi Anisimov — Austin Watson
Thomas Chabot — Nikita Zaitsev
Mike Reilly — Artem Zub
Erik Brannstrom — Erik Gudbranson
Matt Murray
Joey Daccord
SPECIAL TEAMS
OILERS: PP-25.3% (10), PK-78.3%, (23)
SENATORS: PP-15.1%, (27), PK-73.6%, (26)
INJURIES
Ottawa: Derek Stepan (shoulder)
Edmonton: Zack Kassian (hand), Slater Koekkoek (collarbone), Josh Archibald (upper-body), Oscar Klefbom (shoulder)
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