Ottawa Senators

Game Day: Senators @ Islanders - Finally, a nothing game after home win
April 9, 2017, 8:10 AM ET [6 Comments]
Jared Crozier
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Two depleted squads squared off in Ottawa Saturday afternoon, with Ottawa still recovering from a late-season rash of injuries and the Rangers resting some players while allowing others to rest some bumps and bruises with their first round matchup with the Habs having been set in stone for some time.

Ottawa played a very solid game start to finish, coming away with a 3-1 win, which allows them the flexibility to rest pretty much every key player today, having nothing to play for because the win over the Rangers clinched home ice advantage in the first round.

They also don't have to feel the ire of Leafs fans (as if that mattered) because the Islanders can no longer catch Toronto for the final playoff spot because the Leafs beat the Penguins on Saturday night. Congrats to those long-suffering Leafs fans, by the way. Until they gain a point tonight against Columbus and the next installment of the battle of Ontario kicks off in Round 1.

The Senators can reach the 100 point milestone with a win, but by all accounts they have left Craig Anderson, Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Dion Phaneuf and Victor Stalberg at home, and will add the likes of Colin White, Chris DiDomenico, Chris Neil, Jyrki Jokipakka and Mike Condon to the lineup. There will also likely be a call-up or two, perhaps Matt O'Connor from Binghamton to back up Condon and maybe Andreas Englund and Max McCormick. (UPDATE: O'Connor, Englund and Nick Paul have been recalled) There is also an outside chance that 2016 first rounder Logan Brown, whose Windsor Spitfires were eliminated from the OHL playoffs this week might also get the call. That is just a guess, but with the ability to do so because his team is done it might be a reason to watch if he gets called up like his teammate Mikhail Sergachev did for Montreal last night.

The Senators might have found something with their lineup on Saturday, as the newly created line of Jean-Gabriel Pageau between Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone was pretty dynamic and had some instant chemistry. I also like the Stalberg - Derick Brassard - Alex Burrows unit which would free up a Kyle Turris - Zack Smith - Bobby Ryan unit when the latter two become healthy. And add that to Clarke MacArthur, who spent time with Turris and Ryan Dzingel on Saturday, getting better and more comfortable every game and Guy Boucher will have lots of options for a very balanced playoff lineup where some pretty good players are going to sit. One of those sitting probably won't be Chris Kelly however, much to the chagrin of a lot of Senators fans.

If he does play today, as expected, it could be the last NHL game for Chris Neil. His contract is up at the end of the year, and it is doubtful that he will return to the Senators, who have increased depth with Alex Burrows, the potential for White to be a full time player. He also won't likely work himself into the playoff mix, so this could be the swan song for the 1,000+ game Senator.

On the blue line, Boucher will also have options, and has Ben Harpur done enough to unseat Mark Borowiecki from the lineup when Erik Karlsson and Marc Methot are both able to return?

So, for the first time this season, you can watch a game without worrying about consequence of the final score, and don't have to worry about injury to many key players, because most of them won't be dressed.

On a side note, it took until the last game of the season but Curtis Lazar finally scored an NHL goal. After being traded from Ottawa to the Flames, Lazar has appeared in just 4 games. He had an assist in his first game with Calgary and another in his third, but finally broke his 44 game goal-less drought spanning more than a calendar year against the Sharks Saturday.