OTTAWA SENATORS NOTES:
LAST GAME: March 18, 5-4 SO loss vs. Toronto: The Senators put a season-high 52 shots on goal before falling to Toronto 5-4 in the shootout at Canadian Tire Centre. The nine-round shootout saw Kerfoot score the game-deciding goal in what was Ottawa’s longest shootout since 3/1/16. Stützle provided one goal and one assist to record his seventh multi-point game in his last 10 contests. Tkachuk scored each of Ottawa’s final two goals including the game-tying marker at 19:49 of the third period. His first tally in the game saw him reach the 70-point plateau for the first time in his NHL career while Gauthier also found the back of the net for the home side. Hamonic added two assists for his first multi-helper game since 2018. Jarnkrok scored twice (to mark his first multi-goal game with Toronto), McCabe (with his first as a Maple Leaf) and Marner all replied for Toronto. Former Senator Murray earned the win with 48 saves while Sogaard took the loss in turning aside 25 shots. Scratches: Holden, Kastelic; Injuries: Forsberg, Joseph, Kelly, Norris,
Talbot; Shots: OTT – 52, TOR – 29; PP: OTT – 1-3, TOR – 1-2.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: This evening’s game against Pittsburgh will be broadcast nationally on Sportsnet Ontario 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 two-game road trip at Boston tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. The contest will mark the fourth of four regular-season meetings and the second of two matchups at TD Garden.
INJURY REPORT: G Forsberg, C Norris and G Talbot are on IR and will not oppose the Penguins this evening. F Joseph and F Kelly have missed the last three games with lower-body injuries. Total man-games lost: 243.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS: Recalled G Ferguson and re-assigned G Mandolese from/to Belleville (AHL) on March 19.
OTTAWA vs. PITTSBURGH – History:
2022-23 (1-1-0): Jan. 18 @ Ottawa (5-4 OT win), Jan. 20 @ Pittsburgh (4-1 loss), March 20 @ Pittsburgh
2021-22 (1-2-0): 11/13/21 @ Ottawa (6-3 win), 1/20/22 @ Pittsburgh (6-4 loss), 2/10/22 @ Ottawa (2-0 loss)
Series record: Overall: 40-53-9-8; Home: 24-21-5-5; Away: 16-32-4-3
Last Ottawa win: @ Ottawa: Jan. 18 (5-4 OT); @ Pittsburgh: 4/13/14 (3-2 SO)
Last Pittsburgh win: @ Ottawa: 2/10/22 (2-0); @ Pittsburgh: Jan. 20 (4-1)
Last OT result: Jan. 18 (5-4 OT win) @ Ottawa
Last shootout: 3/23/17 (2-1 SO win) @ Ottawa
Most goals, game: Scored: 8, (3/24/12, 8-4 win); Allowed: 8, (2x, Last: 12/5/16, 8-5 loss); Both teams: 13, (12/5/16, 8-5 loss)
Last Game: Jan. 20, 4-1 loss @ Pittsburgh; OTT Goal: Tkachuk; PIT Goals: Guentzel (x2), Rakell, Zucker; OTT Scratch: Gambrell;
OTT Injuries: Chartier, Motte, Zaitsev, Zub; OTT Goalie: Talbot; PIT Goalie: Jarry; OTT PP: 0-3; PIT PP: 1-2; Shots: 45-44.
Career vs. Pittsburgh: Giroux leads all players in career games played (63), in goals (21), in assists (44) and in points (65); Hamonic leads in penalty minutes (100) against Pittsburgh.
ROAD SCHOLARS: The Senators have a record of 14-18-2 on the road this season … Claude Giroux, Stützle and Brady Tkachuk lead with 13 goals on the road this season while Tkachuk ranks first with 19 assists while the Senators serve as visitors … Through 34 road games this season, Tkachuk maintains the club lead with 32 points … The Senators registered an 18-20-3 record over 41 road contests in 2021-22.
BACK-TO-BACK GAMES: Ottawa will play back-to-back games on 12 occasions in 2022-23 and will open their 11th set of the season this evening when the team visits Pittsburgh ahead of a game at Boston tomorrow night … 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 (6-4-0 this season) while posting an 8-8-1 record (6-4-0 this season) in the second half of games on consecutive days.
ON THE POWER PLAY: The Senators are 62 for 261 (23.8%) on the power-play in 2022-23 … Drake Batherson leads with 13 powerplay goals while Alex DeBrincat maintains the club lead with 26 points while the team enjoys a man advantage … Ottawa has recorded multiple power-play goals 16 times in an individual contest in 2022-23 after having done so 11 times in 2021-22.
ON THE PENALTY KILL: Ottawa has overcome 205 of the 249 occasions the team has been shorthanded in 2022-23 to maintain an efficiency of 82.3% through 69 regular-season games … The team has registered nine (Stützle x3, Watson x3, Joseph x2, Motte) shorthanded markers this season after recording nine such goals in 2021-22.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Mar. 18: NY Rangers 6, Pittsburgh 0 – MSG
PIT Goals: None
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (13 saves, 17 shots), DeSmith (5 saves, 7 shots)
Key Stats: Pittsburgh was shut out for just the second time this season.
PP: 0-5
PK: 3-4
Mar. 16: NY Rangers 3, Pittsburgh 2 – MSG
PIT Goals: Rakell, Guentzel
Multiple Points: Rakell (1G-1A), Crosby (2A)
Goalie: Jarry (31 saves, 34 shots)
Key Stats: Sidney Crosby (2A) ensured he will average a point per game for the 18th straight season.
PP: 0-0
PK: 2-2
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
F Nick Bonino Kidney 4 4
D Dmitry Kulikov Lower-Body 2 2
D Jeff Petry Upper-Body 1 17
D Jan Rutta Undisclosed 1 16
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 162
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Mar. 18 D Mark Friedman recalled from WBS (AHL).
Mar. 18 F Nick Bonino placed on long-term injured reserve.
Mar. 16 F Ryan Poehling activated off of injured reserve.
Mar. 10 F Alex Nylander recalled from WBS (AHL).
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Senators: 61-33-16
In Pittsburgh: 35-13-7
In Ottawa: 26-20-9
OT Record vs. Senators: 9-4-12
Shootout Record vs. Senators: 5-3
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh is 1-0-1.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. SENATORS:
Jaromir Jagr – 36GP, 57 PTS (29G-28A)
Sidney Crosby – 45GP, 54 PTS (18G-36A)
Evgeni Malkin – 43GP, 53 PTS (25G-28A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- The Penguins return home to the friendly confines of PPG Paints Arena to take on the Ottawa Senators (TV: AT&T Sportsnet, Sportsnet; Radio: 105.9 The X).
- Pittsburgh enters tonight’s game with points in 12 of its last 14 games versus Ottawa (9-2-3) dating back to March 23, 2017.
- Going back further, the Penguins have points in 24 of their last 28 games against the Senators (19-4-5) dating back to January 27, 2013.
- Here at home, Pittsburgh has won 11-consecutive games against the Senators and have points in 14 straight versus them (13-0-1) dating back to Feb. 13, 2013.
- Pittsburgh has points in 14 of their 20 games (9-6-5) against Atlantic Division opponents this season.
