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\u2019s absence. They\u2019ve 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\u2019s opponents, the Washington Capitals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve 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\u2019ve decided this means the Capitals have given up on the season and are tanking for a high draft pick, so it\u2019s time for the Sens to sweep the season series and give them the thrashing they deserve, and apparently desire.<\/p>\n
No changes are expected from Sunday\u2019s lineup, which looked like this:<\/p>\n
Starting goalie on his bobblehead day \ud83d\ude4c<\/p>\n
Show us your Tim Hortons Hockey Challenge picks for tonight for a chance to win great prizes courtesy of @TimHortons<\/a>! https:\/\/t.co\/cxGfY4cVBa<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/TJ662zsXoo<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 15, 2026<\/a> Your head-to-head stats for tonight\u2019s matchup \ud83d\udcca#GoSensGo<\/a> | @betwaycanada<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/XoRT8vz6Bl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 18, 2026<\/a>
\nStats:<\/p>\n
\nGame 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\u2019s been as good in the last 10 games. Montreal\u2019s won 5 of their last 10, and Pittsburgh, Boston and Detroit have each only won 4.\u00a0Relative to expectations, Ottawa\u2019s most impressive forward as of late has been Mike Amadio. His entire line had an outing to forget against the Habs, but he\u2019s 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\u2019s not just the power-play, Ottawa\u2019s suppression of high-danger chances has also taken a hit with Sanderson out of the lineup. That said, they\u2019re 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\u2019s expected<\/a> to begin skating again next week \u2013 it\u2019s likely he\u2019ll be sidelined for several more games, but this is a positive step forward. As for Nick Jensen, he\u2019ll be undergoing knee surgery which will most likely bring his season and career to an end. It\u2019s quite a cruel twist of fate seeing as how he\u2019s been the team\u2019s most improved player out of the Olympic break. I\u2019m not kidding. Dude had a -10 rating before the break, now he\u2019s a -2.\u00a0It\u2019s been a disappointing season for the Caps \u2013 a bottom-5 power-play, a step back for Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome and other top-six forwards, and they\u2019ve taken a big hit from trading John Carlson to the Ducks at the deadline. However, opponents must still be wary of Tom Wilson\u2019s 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\u2019re not a bad team \u2013 in fact they\u2019re 3rd\u00a0in the Metropolitan Division with a +9 goal differential.Tonight\u2019s game is scheduled for 7:30 pm EST, and the game is available on Sportsnet and TSN 1200.
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