Game 47: Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Senators region: TSN5 (English), RDS (French)
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Giving up nine goals to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens’ defensive ranking dropped from 24th (3.38 goals against per game) to 28th (3.50). That it happened with Samuel Montembeault in the crease was surprising given how strong his season has been, but Montreal wasn’t the first team to be run out of the building by Boston. Saturday’s game was the seventh since Christmas that they won by three goals, and last night they earned an eighth by being the first team to score four goals on the Winnipeg Jets since November 2, a run of 35 games for the team from Manitoba.
Allowing a boatload of goals in Boston is at least understandable since the Eastern Conference leader scores in bunches regularly, especially given how much the Habs had played in the two weeks leading up to that game. But surrendering six goals to the 29th-place Ottawa Senators two days earlier was a less acceptable outcome and made the defensive performance versus the Bruins a bit of a trend.
Montreal needed to change something on the defensive side, and the answer has been to recall Arber Xhekaj from the AHL. Playing on the top pairing, Xhekaj is a big reason why the Laval Rocket are currently riding a nine-game points streak, which includes two wins over Ottawa’s minor-league affiliate of Belleville. Xhekaj dealt with the physical brand of hockey the Senators organization has taken on as its identity, and the thinking is that his style of play will benefit the NHL club that has had serious issues dealing with aggressive play.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Senators |
|---|---|---|
| 19-20-7 | Record | 17-24-1 |
| 44.5% (29th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 47.3% (23rd) |
| 2.72 (28th) | Goals per game | 3.38 (10th) |
| 3.50 (28th) | Goals against per game | 3.67 (30th) |
| 19.3% (20th) | PP% | 15.6% (24th) |
| 72.9% (29th) | PK% | 72.7% (31st) |
| 0-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
Ottawa has built some momentum off its home win on Thursday, getting three points in the two games played since. Most recently, they overcame a 3-1 deficit in Philadelphia, scoring four unanswered goals versus the second-best team in the Metropolitan Division. Scoring has been the easy part for Ottawa this season, however, with defence and goaltending being their main concerns. Limiting their last three opponents to three goals or fewer has led to their recent success.
What they seem to have decided is that offence is the best defence; they won’t allow as many goals if the puck is always in the opponent’s end, and have no fewer than 64 shot attempts in their last six matches. Work ethic has been a feature of this Sens era, and that effort has compensated for some of their weaknesses, including on this mini streak the team is riding.
The counter strategy needs to be forcing the Senators out of the offensive zone and testing their defensive play, and stopping prolonged cycles is one of the things that Xhekaj excels at. But there also needs to be a disciplined approach to the offence to avoid the transition rushes Ottawa capitalized on in the last game as well. Hopefully a couple of days off will mean fewer decision-making errors from the players in today’s rematch.
