OTTAWA SENATORS NOTES:
LAST GAME: Dec. 17, 6-3 win at Detroit: The Senators got three power-play goals to equal a season-high and extended their winning streak to four consecutive games with a 6-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena. The six goals saw Ottawa equal a franchise high in their all-time series against the Red Wings. Batherson opened the scoring to extend his point-streak to seven games while an assist from DeBrincat on the tally saw his streak move to eight consecutive contests. Chabot overtook the lead in power-play goals among NHL defencemen (five) before Batherson added his second of the contest at 1:40 of the middle stanza. With additional assists on both goals, DeBrincat became the first skater in Senators’ history to both record helpers on six consecutive goals and factor in on eight consecutive tallies. Giroux, Motte and Watson also found the back of the net for the visitors with the latter two markers coming while down a man in the third period to see the team’s first multi-goal goal game while shorthanded since 2/18/20. Tkachuk also added three assists for Ottawa while Veleno (skating in his 100th career game), Erne and Hronek scored for the Red Wings. Talbot earned the win for Ottawa in making 29 saves while Husso took the loss for Detroit by way of turning aside 22 shots. Scratches: Heatherington, Lucchini;
Injuries: Bernard-Docker, Joseph, Norris, Stützle, Zub; Shots: OTT – 28, DET – 32; PP: OTT – 3-5, DET – 1-7.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: This afternoon’s game against Minnesota will be broadcast regionally on TSN5 and RDS. On the radio,
the game will be available locally via TSN 1200 (English) and 94,5 Unique-FM (French).
WHAT’S NEXT: Ottawa concludes a three-game road trip against Winnipeg on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. The contest will mark the first of two regular-season meetings and the lone matchup at Canada Life Centre.
INJURY REPORT: D Bernard-Docker, RW Joseph, C Norris, C Stützle and D Zub are on IR and will not oppose the Wild this afternoon. Total man-games lost: 80.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS: Recalled D Heatherington and F Lucchini from Belleville (AHL) on Dec. 14.
OTTAWA vs. MINNESOTA – History:
2022-23 (0-1-0): Oct. 27 @ Ottawa (4-2 loss), Dec. 18 @ Minnesota
2021-22 (1-0-1): 11/2/21 @ Minnesota (5-4 OT loss), 2/22/22 @ Ottawa (4-3 win)
Series record: Overall: 13-11-1-9; Home: 7-6-0-1; Away: 6-5-1-2
Last Ottawa win: @ Ottawa: 2/22/22 (4-3); @ Minnesota: 3/31/16 (3-2)
Last Minnesota win: @ Ottawa: Oct. 27 (4-2); @ Minnesota: 11/2/21 (5-4 OT)
Last OT result: 11/2/21 (5-4 OT loss) @ Minnesota
Last shootout: 10/11/11 (4-3 SO win) @ Ottawa
Most goals, game: Scored: 6, (1/16/06, 6-1 win); Allowed: 7, (11/29/19, 7-2 loss); Both teams: 10, (2x, Last: 11/21/18, 6-4 loss)
Last Game: Oct. 27, 4-2 loss @ Ottawa; OTT Goals: DeBrincat, Chabot; MIN Goals: Zuccarello, Kaprizov, Hartman, Gaudreau; OTT Scratches: Gambrell, Holden; OTT Injuries: Norris, Talbot; OTT Goalie: Forsberg; MIN Goalie: Fleury; OTT PP: 1-4; MIN PP: 1-5; Shots: 29-40.
Career vs. Minnesota: Brassard leads all players in career games played (39), in assists (14) and in points (19); DeBrincat leads in goals (six); Watson leads in penalty minutes (19) against Minnesota.
SWEATER WEATHER: The Senators enter their third season of wearing a primary logo which sees the organization return to its roots with the implementation of the modified original “2D” logo. The team has earned a 68-80-13 all-time record (13-13-2 this season) while wearing its current sweater. Ottawa unveiled their Reverse Retro jersey on Oct. 20 and will wear the sweater on five occasions in 2022-23 (1-1-0 this season). The Senators hold an all-time record of 113-76-7-25 when wearing an alternate; 27-19-2-5 when wearing a red alternate, 85-56-5-19 when wearing a black alternate and 1-1-0-1 when wearing a cream alternate.
HOME ON THE RANGE: Ottawa has a record of 8-8-0 at home this season … Claude Giroux is the Senators leader with eight goals at home while Alex DeBrincat and Tim Stützle maintain the club lead with 13 assists at Canadian Tire Centre … Through 16 home games, Stützle leads the team with 19 points on home ice … The Senators earned a record of 15-22-4 at home through 41 home contests in 2021-22.
ROAD SCHOLARS: The Senators have a record of 6-6-2 on the road this season … Tkachuk leads with six goals on the road this season while also ranking first with 11 assists while the Senators serve as visitors … Through 14 road games this season, Tkachuk maintains the club lead with 17 points … The Senators registered an 18-20-3 record over 41 road contests in 2021-22.
FRANCHISE RECORD: Ottawa has posted an all-time record of 1,018-996-115-178 over 2,307 games … The Senators are 556-443-60-97 through 1,156 all-time home games and 462-553-55-81 through 1,151 all-time road games.
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES: Ottawa will play back-to-back games on 12 occasions in 2022-23 and will conclude their second set of the season this afternoon when they visit Minnesota … The Senators played 17 back-to-back sets last season and earned a record of 6-9-2 in the first half of contests on consecutive nights (2-0-0 this season) while posting an 8-8-1 record (1-0-0 this season) in the second half of games on consecutive days.
ON THE POWER PLAY: The Senators are 34 for 118 (28.8%) on the power-play in 2022-23 … Drake Batherson leads with seven power-play goals while DeBrincat maintains the club lead with 18 points while the team enjoys a man advantage … Ottawa has recorded multiple power-play goals 10 times in an individual contest in 2022-23 after having done so 11 times in 2021-22.
ON THE PENALTY KILL: Ottawa has overcome 90 of the 113 occasions the team has been shorthanded in 2022-23 to maintain an efficiency of 79.7% through 30 regular-season games … The team has registered two (Joseph, Motte) shorthanded markers this season after recording nine such goals in 2021-22.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
COACH SMITH: D.J. Smith was introduced as the Senators’ 14th head coach in franchise history on 5/23/19. A native of Windsor, Ont., Smith spent the four previous NHL seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to joining the Maple Leafs (which was also the team for which he made his NHL playing debut in 1996-97), Smith guided the Ontario Hockey League’s Oshawa Generals to a record of 135-53-3-13 over three campaigns which included his having been recognized as the OHL’s Coach of the Year in 2013-14. One year later, he helped the team capture the Mastercard Memorial Cup. His 95 head coaching victories with Ottawa see him rank in a tie for fourth in franchise history.
SECOND SEASON AS CAPTAIN FOR CHUCKY: Two-time NHL All-Star Brady Tkachuk was appointed the 10th captain in Senators franchise history on 11/5/21. A native of St. Louis, Tkachuk succeeded Erik Karlsson who served in the role for four seasons from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The bronze medal winner with Team U.S.A. at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship is the first American-born skater to serve as team captain. Tkachuk is assisted by full-time alternates Thomas Chabot and Claude Giroux.
THE CAT IS ON TOP: Assists on each of Ottawa’s first three goals on Saturday afternoon at Detroit put Alex DeBrincat into uncharted territory in the Senators record books. After assisting on each of the team’s goals in their 3-2 win vs. Montreal on Wednesday, the Farmington Hills, Mich. native became the first skater in franchise history to earn an assist on six consecutive goals eclipsing the record of five which had previously been recorded on three separate occasions (Erik Karlsson, Filip Kuba and Daniel Alfredsson). Additionally, after the first-year Senator registered the last two of Ottawa’s goals in a 3-0 win vs. Anaheim on Monday, he became the first skater with the club to factor in on eight consecutive goals besting the record of seven which was last set by teammate Tim Stützle in 2021-22. The assists extended his point-streak to eight consecutive games, tied for the fourth-longest active streak and saw him record his seventh multi-point game of the season. With three points this afternoon at Minnesota, he would become the second player to provide three-plus points in three consecutive games joining former team captain Erik Karlsson who did so in 2011-12.
ALL-TIME LEADERS: Chris Phillips is the Senators’ all-time leader in games played (1,179) … Daniel Alfredsson leads in goals (426), assists (682) and points (1,108) … Following Phillips is Alfredsson (1,178), Chris Neil (1,026), Wade Redden (838), Radek Bonk (689), Jason Spezza (686) and Mike Fisher (675) … Neil leads in penalty minutes (2,522) while Patrick Lalime holds the lead in shutouts (30) and ranks second (283) to Craig Anderson (435) in games played among goaltenders. Anderson leads in wins (202).
MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
UPCOMING WILD GAMES
GAME BROADCASTS
OTTAWA SENATORS
All-Time Wild Record: 14-10-4 (7-5-2 at Xcel Energy
Center, 7-5-2 at Ottawa)
2022-23: Minnesota won, 4-2, in the series opener at Ottawa (10/27)…C Freddy Gaudreau (1-1=2), C Ryan Hartman (1-1=2) and LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-1=2) led the Wild with two points each…RW Mats Zuccarello (1-0=1) also notched a goal…D Calen Addison (0-1=1), C Joel Eriksson Ek (0-1=1) and D Jared Spurgeon (0-1=1) all recorded assists…G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27-of-29 shots faced…RW Alex DeBrincat (1-1=2) and D Thomas Chabot (1-0=1) scored for Ottawa… RW Drake Batherson (0-1=1), RW Claude Giroux (0-1=1) and D Travis Hamonic (0-1=1) posted assists…G Anton Forsberg stopped 36-of-39 shots faced for the Senators.
WILD LEADERS: Zuccarello leads Minnesota with 15 points (6-9=15) in 17 matches vs. Ottawa…D Alex Goligoski has 13 points (2-11=13) in 23 contests…D Matt Dumba owns 10 points (6-4=10) in 14 games… Spurgeon has 10 points (4-6=10) in 16 contests.
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 20-10-2 with a 3.14 GAA, a .900 SV% and one shutout in 37 career games (35 starts) against Ottawa…G Filip Gustavsson has not faced the Senators.
SENATORS LEADERS: RW Claude Giroux leads Ottawa with 11 points (4-7=11) in 17 games against the Wild…Chabot owns four points (3- 1=4) in seven games…D Travis Harmonic has four points (2-2=4) in 19 contests.
SENATORS GOALIES: Forsberg is 1-3-0 with a 2.53 GAA and a .929 SV% in four career starts against Minnesota…Talbot is 7-7-1 with a 2.28 GAA and a .929 SV% in 15 starts.
FAST FACTS: Minnesota has earned points in 14 of its last 18 contests against Ottawa (12-4-2) dating back to Oct. 11, 2011…The Wild is on a six-game point streak at Canadian Tire Centre (5-0-1) and is 6-1-2 in its last eight games in Ottawa…The Wild has won six of its last eight meetings at Xcel Energy Center (6-2-0).
INJURIES
Brandon Duhaime: upper body
Ryan Hartman: upper body
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 7, 2022 – Dec. 17, 2022
12/17/22 Reassigned F Sammy Walker to Iowa
12/13/22 Reassigned F Nic Petan to Iowa
12/11/22 Reassigned D Andrej Sustr to Iowa
12/9/22 Recalled F Sammy Walker from Iowa and reassigned
F Joseph Cramarossa to Iowa
ON THE POWER PLAY DYNAMIC DUOS
• Through 30 games the Wild has converted 25.5 percent (25 of 98) of power-play opportunities, eighth-best in the NHL.
• The Wild have converted 34.0 percent (18 of 53) of power-play opportunities at home this season, second-best in the NHL.
• Minnesota has an active five-game power-play goal (PPG) streak dating back to Dec. 9 at EDM.
• The Wild have registered a PPG in 11 of its last 12 games. Since Nov. 23, Minnesota ranks third in the NHL with a 33.3 power-play percentage (13 of 25).
• Minnesota recorded a power-play goal in a season-high six consecutive games from Nov. 23 – Dec. 4, going eight-for-19 (42.1 pct.) during that span. The streak tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history.
• Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello have factored on the same goal 26 times this season. Per NHL Stats, the only other teammate duos to do so 25 or more times are Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (32x) as well as Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov (25x).
• In four games since Dec. 10, goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury (two starts) and Filip Gustavsson (two starts) have combined for four wins, three total goals allowed (0.75 goals allowed per game) and a .971 save percentage. Since Dec. 10, Minnesota ranks first in the NHL in save percentage and second in goals allowed per game.
PENALTY KILLERS
• Since Nov. 8, Minnesota is fifth in the NHL with a 82.6 penalty-kill percentage (57 for 69).
• Minnesota is fifth in the NHL with a 83.3 penalty-kill percentage (40 of 48) on the road this season
TOTAL TEAM EFFORT
IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
• The Wild hold an active six-game home win streak, the NHL’s longest active streak and second-longest in the NHL this season.
• Since Oct. 25, the Wild is tied for fourth in the NHL with 16 wins and tied for fifth with 33 points.
• Since Oct. 25, Minnesota is giving up 2.36 goals per game (fourth in NHL), allowing 28.3 shots per game (fifth in the NHL) and recording a .917 save percentage (tied for fifth in the NHL).
IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
• Minnesota is 7-2-0 in the month of December, tied for first in the NHL in wins and points (14).
DYNAMIC DUOS
• Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello have factored on the same goal 26 times this season. Per NHL Stats, the only other teammate duos to do so 25 or more times are Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (32x) as well as Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov (25x).
• In four games since Dec. 10, goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury (two starts) and Filip Gustavsson (two starts) have combined for four wins, three total goals allowed (0.75 goals allowed per game) and a .971 save percentage. Since Dec. 10, Minnesota ranks first in the NHL in save percentage and second in goals allowed per game.
WE’RE HEADED TO OVERTIME
• This season, Minnesota has five victories in games decided past regulation, tied for fifth-most in the NHL. The Wild have two overtime wins and three shootout victories.
• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Minnesota leads the NHL with 21 victories in extra-session games.
• During the 2021-22 season, the Wild ranked second in the NHL with a franchise record 11 overtime wins and ranked tied for second with five shootout wins, good for 16 total extra-session victories.
• Minnesota went 16-7 in 23 extra session games during the 2021-22 season – its most extra session contests since 23 in 2013-14. The 16 extra session wins are the second-most in team history (17 in 2006-07).
NO FREE HANDOUTS
• Minnesota is averaging 6.00 giveaways per game (180 in 30 games) this season, the lowest rate in the NHL
SHORT (HANDED) KINGS
• Minnesota is first in the NHL with six shorthanded goals this season.
• The total is the team’s highest in franchise history through a season’s first 30 games.
