The Senators are coming off a rare four-day break in this year’s condensed schedule and have used the last two days to go over team strategies in practice as they prepare to take on the Bruins in Boston, who are looking to save face after last week’s disastrous loss to the Sens. The Senators have had some extra help in their preparation this week, with it being the Dad’s trip and having their fathers attend meetings and practices. Let’s hope the Senators listen to the coaching staff extra carefully with their dads keeping them accountable and helping them stay true to the game plan.
Travis Green spoke to the media yesterday and emphasized a sixty-minute mindset as his mantra for the team going into this next stretch of games. Green wants to see complete buy-in from all players and full-game cohesiveness to execute the team’s systems and strategies that they have been practicing over the last two days. He highlighted that the team has spent a lot of time working on their penalty kill and hopes that those adjustments will be noticeable tonight against the Bruins. Green also mentioned that they practiced 5-on-5 play and passing drills. When asked about the Sens’ so-called November curse, he rightfully expressed that he isn’t interested in the past — his focus is on getting the players ready for the next game.
Travis Green: It’s about not just starting well, but playing well for 60 minutes
Sens head coach Travis Green speaks to the media ahead of heading to Boston to face the Bruins
The Sens are coming off a loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. After taking the lead in the third period, Montreal came back to win it in overtime off a heartbreaking breakaway goal — the result of an intercepted neutral zone pass from Drake Batherson. Meanwhile, the Bruins have been winning consistently, riding a four-game winning streak since their loss to Ottawa. You can imagine the Bruins players are eager to set things right and redeem themselves after being embarrassed 7–2 last week.
With both goaltending duos struggling in terms of GAA and save percentage — each with a GAA above 3.00 and a SV% below .900 — this game might come down to who scores last. Joonas Korpisalo is in net tonight for the Bruins and it will be interesting to see how he plays comparatively to Linus Ullmark since Steve Staios made the trades last year to upgrade the goalie position. Coach Green is certainly hoping his team can make a conscious effort to play defense first and limit Boston’s scoring chances.
Ullmark made a few statements to the media yesterday that addressed some of the questions from my Five Thoughts article last Friday. Ullmark said that he only cares about the opinions of his coaches and the people who care about him. He added that he works closely with Justin Peters, the Sens’ goalie coach, on the mental side of the game to stay level-headed when things aren’t going well.
A trusted support system is incredibly important, and I believe Ullmark’s play struggles will pass, given his mental strength and the people around him. It’s still early in the season, and there’s plenty of time to turn things around.
The Bruins have been dealing with similar defensive struggles and are looking to tighten up that aspect of their game. With a new coach implementing a shift from a zone defense to a man-to-man system, there’s been an adjustment period for the players. Boston’s top offensive contributors so far have been David Pastrnak, with 7 goals and 11 assists, and Charlie McAvoy, with 11 assists.
Batherson has been on a tear since returning from injury, fitting seamlessly on the top line with Tim Stützle and Nick Cousins. He has 5 goals and 10 assists in 10 games this season and has proven why the Sens were right not to trade him this summer for a more expensive, “name-brand” top-six forward. Credit to Staios for trusting the young player’s growth and readiness to seize his opportunity as a key contributor to the Senators. Sometimes, the best moves are the ones you don’t make — and Batherson is proving that statement true right now.
Senators projected lineup
Nick Cousins – Tim Stützle – Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig – Dylan Cozens – David Perron
Michael Amadio — Shane Pinto — Claude Giroux
Kurtis MacDermid — Lars Eller — Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Leevi Merilainen
Scratched: Olle Lycksell, Jordan Spence
Injured: Brady Tkachuk (thumb surgery)
Bruins projected lineup
Morgan Geekie — Marat Khusnutdinov — David Pastrnak
Casey Mittelstadt — Pavel Zacha — Viktor Arvidsson
Tanner Jeannot — Fraser Minten — Mark Kastelic
Johnny Beecher — Sean Kuraly — Michael Eyssimont
Nikita Zadorov — Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm — Andrew Peeke
Jonathan Aspirot — Henri Jokiharju
Joonas Korpisalo
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched: Jeffrey Viel, Mason Lohrei
Injured: Elias Lindholm (lower body), Jordan Harris (surgery)
You can watch the game tonight on RDS2, TSN5, and NESN at 7 p.m.
