GAME DAY #67: Stars @ Senators - 5:00 pm - Sunday, March 6 2016

Giving up 41 shots on goal to the Maple Marlies is a sure fire way to improve your draft lottery seeding. But with Methot scoring in back-to-back games and Smith extending his career season high to 17 the Sens managed to keep their slim playoff hopes on life support. It was a truly awful performance except for Hammond. No time to regroup, tonight's game is an early 5PM affair. You can tune in to the third period around 6:45PM.

No lineup changes expected, and with just 22 hours between game starts I doubt there will be much of a morning skate to draw any predictions.

Klinberg didn't travel to Ottawa after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Devils. The Stars are already missing Jordie Benn on the back-end. Patrick Eaves has missed the last 6 games with pneumonia and is a game time decision; their other Patrick (Sharp) has another week to go with a lower-body injury. In other words the Stars are a little banged up.

Last time the two teams met the Sens came away with a 7-4 win on the strength of 2 goals each from Hoffman and Pageau. And after only "playing" two periods last night Hoffman should be well rested.

Schneider is out against Pittsburgh. It'll be up to someone named Keith Kinkaid to do us a favour and put a pitchfork in the Penguins.

P.S. Last time I heard the names "Keith" and "Kinkaid" in the same vicinity this was right around the corner:

Need a big W today coupled with a Pens L. Gets us right back in it.

tim1_2 wrote:Need a big W today coupled with a Pens L. Gets us right back in it.

Yes but not really when you look at games in hand for the pens.

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Need a big W today coupled with a Pens L. Gets us right back in it.

Yes but not really when you look at games in hand for the pens.

Two. Your point? Are you saying it's impossible so might as well do what the Leafs are doing?

wprager wrote:

GAME DAY #67: Stars @ Senators - 5:00 pm - Sunday, March 6 2016

Giving up 41 shots on goal to the Maple Marlies is a sure fire way to improve your draft lottery seeding. But with Methot scoring in back-to-back games and Smith extending his career season high to 17 the Sens managed to keep their slim playoff hopes on life support.  It was a truly awful performance except for Hammond.  No time to regroup, tonight's game is an early 5PM affair.  You can tune in to the third period around 6:45PM.

No lineup changes expected, and with just 22 hours between game starts I doubt there will be much of a morning skate to draw any predictions.

I originally read the bolded section as, "It was a truly awful performance from Hammond," and was ready to give you crap. He really was good, though. I love that he wasn't just a flash in the pan. He's a good backup.

Speaking of "flash in the pan," though, Zack Smith is shooting at about 20% right now. Unsustainable. I wonder if they'll sell high and move him this summer for some kind of upgrade or in a package.

Flo The Action wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:Need a big W today coupled with a Pens L. Gets us right back in it.

Yes but not really when you look at games in hand for the pens.

Pfft. Details.

Yeah, Hammond has this uncanny ability to just step in whatever the situation and be great. Man, if only we had that extra point from the St Louis shootout and one or two more Ws from earlier in the season...it'd be a whole different ballgame!

Smith-Pageau-Stone
Dzingel-Gomez-Ryan
Paul-Zbad-Chiasson
Hoffman-Lazar-Neil

Well, ok then.

Let's do this??!

tim1_2 wrote:Yeah, Hammond has this uncanny ability to just step in whatever the situation and be great. Man, if only we had that extra point from the St Louis shootout and one or two more Ws from earlier in the season...it'd be a whole different ballgame!

Before Turris got injured the Sens were 6th in the Conference and just 1 point back of Detroit for 2nd in the Atlantic, and with a game in hand to boot. It's not inconceivable that they could have ended up 1st in the Division. But even back then, we were winning because of great goaltending and lucky scoring (our team PDO was unsustainably high and was going to regress sooner or later). Effort level in the first has been terrible except for one game (against a Rangers team that was playing pretty bad, IIRC). And you can't hang that one on Hoffman. It was pretty much across the board.

I'm in Montreal visiting my mom. So can't watch until I get home. How have they been so far?