With a slew of formidable opponents coming up in the month of April (Buffalo, Minnesota, Carolina, Tampa Bay), the Ottawa Senators need to continue to find ways to win in spite of Jake Sanderson’s absence. They’ve won two in a row, and have a shot at their longest winning streak of the season with upcoming tilts against the Rangers, Leafs, Islanders, and tonight’s opponents, the Washington Capitals.  

I’ve got a bone to pick with the Caps. As we know, Ottawa is chasing Boston in the standings, and Washington is chasing Ottawa. Therefore, by the transitive property, Washington is also chasing Boston. Despite this, they choked a lead and lost to the Bruins in a shootout on Sunday. I’ve decided this means the Capitals have given up on the season and are tanking for a high draft pick, so it’s time for the Sens to sweep the season series and give them the thrashing they deserve, and apparently desire.

No changes are expected from Sunday’s lineup, which looked like this:

Starting goalie on his bobblehead day 🙌

Show us your Tim Hortons Hockey Challenge picks for tonight for a chance to win great prizes courtesy of @TimHortons! https://t.co/cxGfY4cVBa pic.twitter.com/TJ662zsXoo

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 15, 2026
Stats:

Your head-to-head stats for tonight’s matchup 📊#GoSensGo | @betwaycanada pic.twitter.com/XoRT8vz6Bl

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 18, 2026
Game Notes:As frustrating as the out-of-town scoreboard has been of late, keep in mind that of the six teams the Sens could catch in the standings, Columbus is the only one that’s been as good in the last 10 games. Montreal’s won 5 of their last 10, and Pittsburgh, Boston and Detroit have each only won 4. Relative to expectations, Ottawa’s most impressive forward as of late has been Mike Amadio. His entire line had an outing to forget against the Habs, but he’s got 4 goals and 6 assists in his last 13 games. Between him, Fabian Zetterlund, and Ridly Greig, none of these three have been consistently finding the scoresheet, but all have had stretches of high-end play at different parts of the season, which has served the club well from an offensive standpoint.It’s not just the power-play, Ottawa’s suppression of high-danger chances has also taken a hit with Sanderson out of the lineup. That said, they’re still keeping their shots against very low. Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub have had up-and-down results on the top pair, while Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence, now playing an extra 3-4 minutes a night, continue to find success.Speaking of Sanderson, he’s expected to begin skating again next week – it’s likely he’ll be sidelined for several more games, but this is a positive step forward. As for Nick Jensen, he’ll be undergoing knee surgery which will most likely bring his season and career to an end. It’s quite a cruel twist of fate seeing as how he’s been the team’s most improved player out of the Olympic break. I’m not kidding. Dude had a -10 rating before the break, now he’s a -2. It’s been a disappointing season for the Caps – a bottom-5 power-play, a step back for Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome and other top-six forwards, and they’ve taken a big hit from trading John Carlson to the Ducks at the deadline. However, opponents must still be wary of Tom Wilson’s presence up front, Jakob Chychrun playing in a system that actually benefits him, and a Top-5 goalie in the league in Logan Thompson. They’re not a bad team – in fact they’re 3rd in the Metropolitan Division with a +9 goal differential.Tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:30 pm EST, and the game is available on Sportsnet and TSN 1200.