Ottawa Senators Continue Road Trip In Vegas vs Mark Stone, Golden Knights | NHL Game Preview

Ottawa Senators Continue Road Trip In Vegas vs Mark Stone, Golden Knights | NHL Game Preview

On today’s show, it’s a game day preview. The Ottawa Senators continue their road trip in Vegas. We take a look at both teams lines, players to watch, and what do the Ottawa Senators need to do to get a win in Vegas for the first time since 2018. This is Brad Kachchuck and you’re listening to the Locked On Senators podcast. You’re Locked On Senators, your daily podcast on the Ottawa Senators, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome. You are locked on to the Ottawa Senators. I’m Ross Levitan alongside Brandon Pillar and today’s episode’s brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Today is Wednesday, November 26th, and Pillsey. Looks like a captain is returning for tonight’s game, but unfortunately it’s not the send. It’s a guy that could have and possibly should have been the Ottawa Senators captain, Mark Stone. Why did he have to do this? Why not just wait an extra game like our captain Brady Kachchuck is doing and come back? I don’t know when they play. Probably Friday. Why did he have to do this, Ross? And come back tonight. It’s so disrespectful. You know, you know the last time Ottawa beat Vegas in Vegas, Mark Stone scored a goal for the Ottawa Senators. That’s how long it’s been. Alex Burroughs scored the gamewinner assisted by Eric Carlson and Max McCormack back in March of 2018. This has been a house of horrors for the Ottawa Senators. Just loss after loss. And it feels like there’s been some lopsided ones in there, but last year it wasn’t lopsided. Frankly, Ottawa should have and could have won that game. Nick Cousins took a penalty in the third period and the momentum just shifted like that. Vegas rained it on from there, winning 5-3, I believe, was the final score, if not 6-4. It was a twogoal loss. 6-4. And um that was probably one of the more frustrating losses of last season. Not quite the Vancouver level that happened almost a year to the day. I want to say thank you to the citizen that posted our reaction after that game, but I honestly didn’t need to relive it. I was down in the dumps, Ross. That was a tough one minute rant by me. Just just completely depressed. But look at us now. I had such a migraine there. And then two hours later found out my wife was going into labor. So I was uh that was quite the roller coaster of emotions a year ago. Today the Sands have been great though since that. like they turned it around on November 25th last year and from that moment on I think they have 48 wins in that stretch. Our good friend Jack Richardson um had the stat there that they are 4826 and 10 since November 25th of last year. So lots of time between now and then. So where we look forward on the fourth game of a sevengame road trip tonight for the sends is internally. Still no Thomas Shabbat, still no Brady Kachchuck, and still no Ridley Greg. All three remain out. Lines will be the same as they were against the Los Angeles Kings. And look, we’ve said our piece about the officiating and everything that happened in the LA game. But if you look at how Ottawa handled it, I think there’s a lot to build off of that they can use tonight to hopefully make this another victory. They’re two and one on the road trip. You go into these trips saying, “Hey, you want to finish at 500?” You got St. Louis, Dallas, and the Montreal Canadians to end the trip. So to get a win here would just be so good for the confidence of this team. And hopefully they’re building off of a great dinner last night paid for by Shane Pinto off the contract extension. It was an extremely optional skate yesterday. Only a handful of players, including Brady Kachchuck, were on the ice, but you look for a full team practice this morning. That’s why we’re recording a little bit later. S just got off the ice for the morning skate, but they’re going to have to look around the locker room and say who’s going to step up tonight because with Mark Stone back, we’ll get to Vegas’s lines. They basically have three first lines up front. Their quote unquote third line had two 30 goal scorers last year in Pavl Droofv and Tomas Hurdle. The sends didn’t have any on their entire roster. There is no team and or place that I fear more than the Golden Knights and playing in Las Vegas. Like this is this is Thank God, Ross. We only play them once a year in Vegas. This is my number one feared opponent. Number two for me. The Oilers are ahead of them for you. No. Uh on the road is the Colorado Avalanche. Oh man, I don’t know. I don’t know how Vegas isn’t your number one. It’s And this is without no William Carlson either. You talked about having three first lines essentially and you’re missing a middle six centerman like and one of their best defenseman and PetraAngelo, but he’s likely out for the entire season. I think he he might be done done. Yeah, he might be like like Yeah. Well, with our luck Ross, as you’re listening to this, the Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy will announce Petrangelo is back in the lineup because we didn’t think Mark Stone was going to play tonight. I didn’t even know he was close to coming back. And then like the Undertaker, that meme where he just pops out of the casket and is like, “No, I’m ready. I’ve got to play tonight up against my old team.” We should note it’s not confirmed that he’s back. He took line rushes today for the first time wearing a contact jersey. But what makes us think that he’ll play is the fact that he was also taking reps on the first power play unit. Playing tonight, I know you’re trying to be like, whoa, we don’t know for sure. Let’s hold off. But I think all signs point to him playing tonight. And that’s Sen’s luck. Sinbin Vegas, a great follow on social media just replied to us and said he’s in. And Mark Stone, why we are a little down in the dumps about this. One, every Sense fan knows he’s just a fantastic player. But two, in six career games against Ottawa, Mark Stone has at least a point in every single one of those games. He has 11 points in six games. That is the highest points per game of any active player in the National Hockey League that’s played at least five games against the Sanders. It’s actually the most of any. There’s two guys with three games, but even they have less than Mark Stone has against the Senators. And then you add on top of that Jack Eel, who with Buffalo killed Ottawa all the time. And then he did that again with Vegas. He scored a late game winner against Ottawa two years ago in Ottawa that put the the final night dagger in the Ottawa Senators. So this this is a game where I will be extremely impressed if the Senators come out on the road and get a victory. Honestly, I’ll I’ll be impressed if they if they keep it close. I know maybe people are yelling at me, “Pills, you got to have faith in team. Look how good they are.” This is this is one of the few spots in the in the schedule where I just what will come will come. I’m not saying it. I’m not saying it. I know you want me to say it. And for the record, when I have said, the Ottawa Centers have gone on to win. So, that that’s a little uh extra brain power. I was using the old reverse jinx, but I don’t think I’m going to pull that one, that ace out of my sleeve tonight, Ross. Um, we talk about Mark Stone playing six games up against the Senators and having good points. Well, Mark Stone has played six games this season, and you might be thinking, “Oh man, this guy’s had so many injuries. He’s getting up there in age. Six games. What is he? Maybe a point per game guy. He’s got a couple uh nice points, and he’s just going to figure out his game here.” Mark Stone has 13 points in six games this season. More than two points per game. Like, oh man, this and you don’t get last chance back. Last change. You probably got the Vegas flu. Let’s be honest. I have no issue with the boys going out celebrating on Shane Pinto’s dime after a new contract. I’m not trying to be that guy that’s like athletes shouldn’t have fun. you’re in Vegas, have a good time. Maybe playing guilty will uh will help the boys out. But I’m just like, there is only one thing that we have, Ross, that is a way that the Ottawa Centers can win tonight’s game and uh we will we will save that for later. But because I scoured NHL.com team stats, I always look power play, penalty kill, faceoffs, goals, hands, goal scors for sure. Yeah, but Vegas is not a bad faceoff team. I’m trying to find anomalies. I’m trying to find outliers where it’s like, oh, clearly there’s advantage here. Clearly there’s advantage there. Vegas is just good at everything. Uh, this is the team that really has made FM picks a successful strategy. Like, they hate having first round picks. They hate keeping them. And uh, it’s working out for them. I mean, to be a Vegas Golden Knight fan, to go to the Stanley Cup finals your first year went, there was people that are like, “This team might not win 15 games.” Like, there was people that really thought that they’ve flipped the hockey world upside down. And you got to give them credit. I mean, they’re the villains of the NHL, I would say, but they do a damn good job of it. Yeah, they’re third in the league in faceoff. So, it’s actually be a really fun battle tonight then in the trenches. We’ll be watching for that, too. We’ll let you know other things that we’re watching for a little later on in the show. We’ll also get to lineup notes for both teams. Clearly opening segment quite a bit about how good the Vegas Golden Knights are. It must just be nice to hear if you’re a Golden Knight supporter who’s tuning in and go check out locked on Vegas Golden Knights. Those boys do good work over there, too. But uh over here, we’re focused on what the sends need to do to win this game. And there are paths to doing that. The Senators have back-to-back games with a goal from Fabian Zetterland. They’ll need that second line to be solid. Dylan Cousins has been playing great hockey of late, too. And then you got Timmy Superstar. I mean, the lights are bright in Vegas and Tim Stutzel loves putting on a show. So, let’s see if Tim Stutz can lead the Ottawa Senators to a victory tonight. And there is that carrot dangling that’s saying, “Hey, you win the first three or four of four games on this road trip.” And Brady’s coming back on Friday. That’s a way to get some momentum rolling downhill as you get a little more tired. All the movement of going back and forth, Northern Cal back to SoCal. It’s going to be a big test tonight. And here’s the boys that will do it later on in the show. You’re listening to Locked On Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at Monarch. Guys, let’s be honest. Most of us can’t name all of our financial accounts, let alone what they’re worth. between 401ks, savings, investments. It’s easy to lose track and that can mean leaving money on the table. Don’t do that. That’s why there’s Monarch, an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or on your phone. It’s going to help you organize your accounts, track your spending, and get a better handle on your investments without ever having to touch a spreadsheet. You can review everything with your partner, see your shared goals, and make better financial decisions together. 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On Thursdays, they’ve got cheap tacos and my favorite, live music every Saturday night with no cover ever. You can also check out the send shuttle. All December dates are available on their website. Go check them out at glee centralpub.com. Seven games to choose from and the bus is only $18 round trip. So, you leave an hour and 15 minutes before the game and it’ll bring you right back to the pub at 779 Bank Street. It leaves 15 minutes after the game. So, get your tickets now at glee centralpub.com. The vibes are free at the GCP. Go check them out. 779 Bank Street and let them know that Locked On Senators sent you. [Music] All right, Pillsy, it is an Ottawa Senators game day. The Sens are 117 and4 this season and they’re visiting a Vegas Golden Knights team that despite all the praise that we’ve heaped on them so far, they haven’t been winning a whole lot of games of recently. Three wins in their last 10 games. They’re 33 and four. So, they’re getting a lot of overtime practice in this one. The Vegas Golden Knights have nine regulation wins this season. The Ottawa Senators have eight. So maybe, just maybe, the gap isn’t as big between these two teams as originally thought out. The Senators have 71 goals for, 71 goals against. They’re right at even where the Vegas Golden Knights have scored less, but allowed less. They’re at a plus three differential with 68 goals for, and 65 against. Vegas has played the same number of games, 22, as the Ottawa Senators. Vegas is 53 and3 on home ice. The Senators are 54-2 on the road. Yeah, it’s uh I mean when you look at the standings, Ross, and you and you put those numbers out, it does seem like these two teams are a lot closer. Um I mean, the the East and West are two very different conferences. uh as well there’s a lot more I shouldn’t say a lot more but there is a handful of teams that are bad in the west where really in the east there there isn’t many I mean I get you could put Buffalo there but they’re at least competing they’re finding ways to win games whereas the west is able to beat up on some other teams yeah I mean Toronto dead last in the division or conference yeah there you go I like that yeah and uh Vegas is getting back from a three-game road trip this will be their first home game since a 3-2 win over the Rangers and they were on the road for two games before that, too. So, it’s only their second home game since November 13th. So, two weeks between um more than just the one at home. This is their first of a four-game home stand. And uh Pelysey, you talk about some easier games. Well, two teams that are coming to Vegas soon are the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks. Those two teams are kind of attached at the hip, right, with the first overall pick, Celabbrini, Bedard, all that. Well, guess who’s coming into Vegas after Ottawa? It’s the Montreal Canadiens. So, that should be probably not for the players, but for the fans, we need Ottawa to do better than Montreal against the Golden Knights. Yeah. I mean, that’s that’s always the goal to to achieve more than the Montreal Canadians. Yeah. And right now, the standings are so tight in the Atlantic Division and the East overall that if Ottawa wins tonight, there’s a fair chance they finish first place in the Atlantic Division. And if they lose, there’s a fair chance that they wake up tomorrow on the outside looking into the playoff picture. That’s how close things are for the Ottawa Senators right now. And here’s the group of men that will be going to battle tonight against the Golden Knights. Top line of Tim Stutsaw with former original misfit with the Golden Knights. David Peron, Drake Bathson on right wing there. Then you have Dylan Cousins centering Lars Eller and Fabian Zeterlin. Shane Pinto is between Michael Amadio and Clo Jeru. And then it’s Stephen Holidayiday with Nick Cousins and Hayden Hodgson. Good to see Holidayiday’s all right. I know he came back in the game, but sometimes there’s some swelling after a play like he took with the big hit uh that cut him in the game against LA. On defense, Jake Sanderson and Ardam Zub, Tyler Cleven and Jordan Spence. Then it’s Nicholas Mattenpalo with Nick Jensen. Lenus Olark starts in goal tonight. He’s been much better of late for the Ottawa Senators, but still struggling overall in the season with the numbers well below where you’d like. So big opportunity for Lenus Allar Pelysey. I’m going to lead off with a bonus locked on player because this one just popped in my head. And hopefully the Senators are watching this goal to feel good about themselves. Did you know that Lars Eller scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal in this rink against the Vegas Golden Knights? Oo, okay. I like that. Let’s go Lars. Yeah, that’s a nice little bit of business. So, he’s probably struting into that ring saying, “Oh, man. You know what he should do? He should wear his Stanley Cup ring to tonight’s game.” Nice. Now, he’s probably got that thing under lock and key, but it’s a good idea. The Golden Knights could counter with all of all of them wearing their Stanley Cup ring. Wasn’t against him. Wasn’t against him. Yeah. One and0 in the cup final. How many How many of the players in Vegas now was that Stanley Cup game that Lars won up against too? One of them. One of them plays on the Ottawa Senters. David Braun. Yeah, exact true. I didn’t put that together there even though I just mentioned he was on that team but Brad McNab and Shay Theodore the two original and Riley Smith who left and came back he’s on Vegas’s fourth line tonight but I mentioned Tim Stutla playing well when the Bates are bright he’s got seven points in eight career games against the Vegas Golden Knights now he’s also minus six but he’s got seven points in eight career games let’s get him to a point per game so let’s see two point Timmy tonight he’ll be my locked on player because he is just so fun to watch every shift he’s out there, you have to be locked on to what Timmy Superstar is up to. Okay, I love it. Uh any Yeah, give it to the German. That’s We talk about keys to the game, Ross. I said there was only one. I’ll I’ll piggy back on you and say there is to give it to the German. This guy’s got to find a way to get it done up against top teams, bright lights. You need your top guy to perform. So Tim Stoza, I like that. Uh I’m going with guy on his line that we just mentioned, number 57, David Peron, former Vegas Golden Knight. He has played them 22 times. 17 points in 22 games. Not bad. Um, six goals, 11 assists. Not a very good shooting percentage, only 9%. So, let’s bump those numbers up. But why I wanted to make sure I’m locked on to David P is Brady’s music is here. It’s back. He’s coming back next game. Now, Ridley Greg is out. So, that will likely give David PM more time to spend in the top six with Brady returning. But, you mentioned it. Lars Eller hasn’t looked out of place playing the wing and in the top six. So, David Prawn’s ice time has dwindled these last two games. Only 11:46 up against the Kings and 1257 up against the San Jose Sharks where he’s been averaging uh let’s see what’s his average here as I click. Well, Dave I’ll 1417. So, that’s down from his average. And I want I want to see him compete and help out Tim Stitz and Drake Bathson. Not to say that he hasn’t been doing that, but you got to be aware of what’s coming here when Greg gets back. Kachchuck is back. I think most people have PM pegged as the guy to slide all the way down to the fourth line. So, make the most of this opportunity here. I’ve got another wild uh stat for tonight. Oh man, this is going to be a wo. You remember Hayden Hodgson was the guy who flattened Mark Stone in preseason a few years ago and he said that guy’s never going to play in the league. Well, he’s playing against you tonight, so keep your head up in the Done cuz Hayden Hodgkins coming. He’s coming to hit hard. I I hope throwback. That is a throwback, but I don’t I don’t want Hayden Hodgson on the ice at the same time as Mark Stone. No offense. That’s a fair comeback. Their only interaction is during warm-ups. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Hayden Hodgson, he’s one of those guys, too. When those guys come back, he’s trying to make an impact so he can stay in this lineup. So, we’ll see if Hayden Hodson’s got something up his sleeve for tonight’s game. But just a little note to keep aware of. Also, Jordan Spence has five assists in nine eight career games against the Golden Knights. That is tied for the most points he has against any opponent, the Chicago Blackhawks, the other where he has five points against them. So, will Jordan Spence getting to play a top four role be a factor in tonight’s game? We’ll have to wait and see. 10 o’clock game. We will have the postcast for you afterwards. If you’re going to sleep, no worries. We got you covered. It’ll be in your podcast feeds for you when you wake up. Let’s look at tonight’s opponent on the other side. And I have some notes after being boots on the ground or boots in the booth up in Winnipeg yesterday where I got to see the Belleville Sends win. Uh 52 game over the Manitoba Moose. I’ll be back in the booth tonight and it’s great pregamer for the Sens. Belleville Sends start at 8:00 Eastern. Game will be over just after the sends game starts. I’ll catch Dean and Gourd for the first period and then be dialed in second and third and maybe overtime before the postcast. All right, the Vegas Golden Knights Lions and Players to watch next. You’re listening to Locked On Senators, your team every day. Today’s episode is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push late into the night like the Ottawa Sanders hopefully will be doing up against the Vegas Golden Knights on FanDuel. The Ottawa Sanders are plus 150 money line. The overunder set at 5 a half. And if you’re watching all the games waiting for the sends game to happen, check out the puck drop special. So many fun daily special bets. Like you can bet that each team playing today will score two plus goals. Each game will have three plus goals scored. So you can bet on the entire NHL slate. And you can do it on FanDuel. And if you’re a new customer, they’re going to give you $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, PZY. It’s game day for the Ottawa Senators taking on the Vegas Golden Knights 10:00 start from T-Mobile Arena. We’ve already got a boots on the ground report dialed in for the postcast. So, we’re fired up to go live to Las Vegas for after the game. I wonder if they uh found any of our chips on the floor of the Venetian from when we were there for the NHL draft a couple of seasons ago. What a trip that was where the Senators acquired Carter Yakamchuk. I’ll let you know my thoughts on Yak’s game in Manitoba from yesterday. But first, let’s look at the Vegas Golden Knights lines for tonight’s game. They still have injuries to William Carlson, Jeremy Lozon, and Aiden Hill, their starting goalie. plus Alex Petraangelo who was ruled out for pretty much the season um before this one got started. Jack Eel centering the top line with Ivan Barbashev. And we’ve got a new face for the Vegas Golden Knights, guy who um has a slight connection to Ottawa. He was on the junior Senators roster for the COVID season. didn’t end up playing a game, but Kitchener native Braden Bowman is on the top line rightwing spot because they’ve moved one of their right wings to the left wing on the second line. Brett Hen is going to center Mitch Marner and Mark Stone. Imagine telling a Sens fan eight, nine years ago that Mark Stone and Mitch Mner would be on a line together. Yikes. Third line, Tomas Hurdle centering Pavl Droofv and Brandon Sad. The fourth line is Colton Sizens with Riley Smith and Keegan Kolasar. Looks like former Senator Cole Reinhardt will be a healthy scratch in this one. So too will Alexander Holtz on the back end. The OG Misfits Golden Knights pair of Braden McNab with Sha Theodore. Then you’ve got Noah Hannifin with Zack Whitecloud and um Ben Hutton with Kaden Cororsac. The goalender will be Aiden Schmid tonight. No, Akira. Akira Schmeed will start. You might remember him from the New Jersey Devils. Played a little bit there before being acquired by the Golden Knights. Probably wishing that they had Logan Thompson at this point. They send him to Washington. He’s one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League right now. Pillsy, your lookout player to watch. All right. He’s in a new division, a new conference, and on a new team for the first time in his career. But I still love to hate number 93, Mitch Martner. Uh the hatred is not as strong as when he’s in the blue and white. But this guy drives me nuts. Uh the worst part about it is he’s so damn good, but I don’t like the way he plays hockey. Frustrates me, but I understand how good he is and he’s been good up against the Ottawa Centers in his career in 38 games, 40 points, so above a point per game. He’s on that second line with Mark Stone. It disgusts me that Mark Stone is playing on a line with Mitch Mner and they’re against the Ottawa Senators. But here we are. Um, yeah, I’m going to be looking out for Mitch Mner who has had success in his new spot in 22 games this season. Four goals, 17 assists, 21 points. Pill, I have found the exact quote after the hit that Hayden Hodgson threw on Mark Stone. You can go check it out at Sen Central on Twitter. He said, quote, “That’s probably the last time I’ll ever play against that guy.” That’s awesome. I mean, if you’re Hayden Hutchkins, you got to love that. That I haven’t seen many angrier NHL players in game action than Mark Stone when that happened. He lost his marbles, full red face, veins popping, blackout rage, and just went in there after him. It was crazy. Yeah. And you can see the entire exchange and the postgame comments from Stone over on Twitter at Sen Central. My lookout player is going to be Pavl Droofv. Probably the most unsung 30 goal scorer in NHL history last year. He actually scored 35, so I don’t mean to rob him of any goals. And then if you add the 22 games he’s played this season where he has 11 goals, which would be tied for the lead on the sends, he has 46 goals in his last 104 games. So, you have to be aware he is a pure shooter. He can get the pug upstairs in a hurry and he is going to be a sneaky elite player in the league. Or he is a sneaky elite goal scorer, I should say. Yeah, I don’t think he’s an elite player overall. But man, that guy can rip the puck. So, 26 of his 46 goals during this stretch have come at even strength, which means 20 are on the power play. And Ottawa’s penalty kill is already uh not great to say the least. So what you think they’re great? They have been much better. Uh in the month of November, I was looking at it, Ross. Let’s see how quick I can do this here. Uh in the month of November, here we go. Pretty fast. I’ll I’ll take this speed. The Ottawa Senators are 80.8% in the penalty kill. Now, overall, that’s not like fantastic or amazing, but considering the fact that the Ottawa Senators were in the mid60s for most of their time this season, that’s pretty good. The issue, Ross, and we’ve discussed this, is the power play in November, sitting at 11.5%. Yeah. Yeah. The power play needs to get going. There’s no doubt about that. Like, if Otto was going to win tonight’s game, it’s because the power play helps them out and they get great goalending. Okay, so we’re just we’re adding on different ways that the sends are going to win here. We started with one and now we’ve talked ourselves into three. I don’t I’m not con I’m not joining you on the power play one cuz I don’t I don’t have a lot of hope that that’s going to happen. Uh but the Tim Stoza one and one we have not discussed yet. So I’ll join you on that. Okay, discuss it. What what can the Senators do to win tonight’s game? # goalie friendly show. Lenusark needs to be Vzna winning style fantastic tonight. Like we need to look at the end of the game and be like Lenus Almark won us this game. I think for me that’s the most important. You talked about it. Two30 goal scorers on their third line. You get a guy that’s more than a twopoint per game pace. Their captain inserted back into the lineup. You’ve got Jack Eel ascends killer. You’ve got Mitch Marner who’s loving his time away from Toronto. You’ve got uh Ivan Barbashev, another guy that we didn’t really touch on. He’s a great piece here. the defenseman of Hannneathan, Theodore. Those guys are really good. D for the Vegas Golden Knights. You’re up against their starter with Aiden Hill out in Akirmeid. Uh Lin Bomb unfortunately just played the game before and was terrible up against the Mammoth. I wish they would have saved him for tonight, but Lena has to be the number one star of the game in my opinion. Sure. Tim Stutz as well. You got to score goals uh too to win games. But if he doesn’t shut the door, um very very scared how this could go. Yeah. And if you look at um Jack Eel, because you mentioned him beating up on the Ottawa Senators, he’s got the fifth most points per game of any active player against Ottawa. 34 points in 23 career games against the sends. Mner’s got 38 points in 40 games. It’s actually uh it’s 40 points in 38 games. Yeah. Yeah, I just tweeted that wrong. Uh, not the first, won’t be the last time that I’m wrong. Although Brady Kachchuck has said we’re never wrong on this show, so please scrub that stat from the record. Although we did correct it right away, so we’re probably just right twice, right? That’s how we work that one out. Um, another key to victory is have Hayden Hodgson remind Mark Stone about that incident, get him mad, and have those two sit in the penalty box for five minutes together because I like that tradeoff. Again, when are we going to see Hayden Hodgson and Mark Stone on the ice at the same time? when Vegas has the line change matchup opening shift. I’m I’m convinced that Mark Stone is going to circle Hayden Legend’s name tonight. I do think this is a story line cuz he he was that mad that Yeah, I just rewatched the video and it’s crazy. But shout out his teammates. Like that was immediate glove eject all five Vegas Golden Knights on the ice. There wasn’t like a oh how how’d that go? Should we get in there? No, immediately after. Yeah. But look, the SS are playing good hockey right now and this is going to be a fun game. I’m I’m really looking forward to it and I think that S’s fans are going to really um hope that this one doesn’t get out of hand early. Otherwise, I think we’re going to hear a lot of clicks on the TV early and saying, uh, wake me up for 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. game in St. Louis. Unfortunately, Ross, I do have a stat that leads against what you’re trying to say here. And I’m not trying to sway people from not watching the game, but we were talking about Kings and Sans, how it was a bit uh snoozefest like not a lot of shots, not a lot of offense. I I think it’s fair those were I I said it. I really liked that last Kings game, but for late night games, a 2-1 game isn’t exactly a thriller. Well, the Ottawa Senators and Vegas Golden Knights, Vegas Golden Knights allow the third least shots against per game at 25.4 and Ottawa second least at 24.9. So there’s not, statistically speaking, there’s probably not going to be a lot of shots on goal in this game. So that’s why it’s even more important for Lena Solmark to stay sharp. I find sometimes when there’s not a lot of shots, that’s where he struggles. So that could be one of these games. And you look at a team like Vegas that has these highly talented offensive players. They’re not just chucking muffins at the net and hoping for the best. They’re going to be waiting for prime scoring opportunities. And when they get them, they have a handful of players that can finish when they’re in the right spot in the right time. So, I think this is going to be a well likely it’s going to be a tight defensive game. And anytime there’s opportunities for oddman rushes or things like that, I think that’s where this game’s going to break open. And power play as well. Like you got to score on the power play against the Vegas Golden Knights. And their penalty kills solid. Everything about them uh statistically seems fairly solid, but it’s it’s just something you got to break through. They’re actually right in the middle of the pack in penalty kill. They’re at 81%. I mean, that’s like more than 10% better than Ottawa. The Sens and Canucks are the only two teams in the league that are below 70% on their penalty kill, but it’s an opportunity tonight. And I think the lower score this game is helps the Senators. The higher they get into a track meet or the more they get into a track meet with Vegas, it’s not going to be my favorite to watch. I want to see a game like the LA game, but if Ottawa scores on one of their power play opportunities, could have been a different game there. And we’ll see it unfold tonight at 10:00. All right, Billy. I was at the uh Belleville Suns game yesterday. If uh you missed it, I posted a video from the old car, the old car cast after the game. But uh the big takeaway for me, I got two of them. One was Jorian Donovan is being relied upon as like a shutdown D down there. He had a huge block on a PK. Same with Cam Croy. They’re a pair down there and they locked it down in the third period. So, I love to see that. Also love to see Oscar Person. I went to practice the other day and was chatting with him a bunch. He’s just such a good dude. Um, and I was like, “Let me see the the curve on your stick. Like, I I want to see it.” He had three goals all season. I touch his stick, he scores twice. So, I came after and he’s like, “Yeah, you help me with that.” And I said, “Yeah, I know, man. I know.” So, just an absolute beauty. He’s been in a very defensive role, but it’s such a translatable role where I know we we love seeing Holiday get an opportunity. But if there’s a fourthline center opening later on this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Oscar Person get the rookie lap there. Coaching staff seems very happy with his development. And if he can show a bit of offense, too, that’s going to have to be the key. Consistent offense for him, I think. And games at 10:30 in the morning. He’s got three goals in two games at 10:30 in the morning. Um, so not sure that’s going to be a consistent thing throughout the year, but those school day games and what everyone wants to hear about is Carter Yakamchuk. Under no circumstances, let me be clear, under no circumstances should he play NHL games this year. Thank you. I agree. So key. He he had a couple mistakes, couple not holding the puck in at the blue line, then he tried to make a recovery play and put it right across onto the other team’s tape. Goes down the other way for an opportunity. But I see the vision. this guy, he’s not afraid to do tow drags at the blue line, but man, he went two for two on tow drags at the blue line. Like, at some point you’re like, “Hey, that’s just you.” But I’m I’m nervous to see it right now at the NHL level, but give this guy some more refinement. He’s big. Wasn’t physical at all in the game yesterday. I’m curious to see if that’ll be more a part of his game tonight, but he did have a nice breakup play defensively on what would have been another opportunity. kind of bailing himself out to an extent, but offensively, man, on the power play. This guy is gifted. This guy is gifted. Um, he had a assist, another one taken away, finishes with one assist. KV scores the goal. KV is another guy who I mean, he leads the AHL in shots. He’s tied for the AHL lead in goals. Like, y this guy’s going to be in the NHL sooner rather than later for another look. Yeah, probably. And he’s ninth in points. uh right there, right behind Philippe Dau. Like it’s awesome to see Belleville Senators players right there when you open up the AHL points leaders. We haven’t seen that in a long time. So that’s great to see. And yeah, I agree with you, Ross. It’s not that K Yakchuk, you know, we’re we’re not down on him, but I just think they should take the time to develop him properly. Rushing your blue chip number one prospect as a defenseman just doesn’t make any sense for me. I know Sens fans are excited to see him, but there’s so much that he needs to work on as a pro up against men in my opinion that we need to give him the time to do that. Uh so yeah, it’s it’s awesome to see him racking up points, but he’s got to clean up the rest of his game, which which was always kind of the book on Yakamchuck. Yeah, it it’s perfectly fine. I’m excited to get another look at him tonight, so I’ll let everyone know what I see from Canada Life Center. And Ross, I can’t believe we didn’t mention this. # goaliefriendly show. Shout out Mad Sogard getting a win. Oh my god, we’re cheering for that guy and it had been a while since he had a professional win. So, it’s awesome that he kind of gets that monkey off his back and hopefully that can help him relax and ease into the playing time he’s going to get here as he splits the net with Jackson Parsons who’s going to start tonight’s game. Yeah, really. I’m really curious to see Jackson Parsons tonight, too, because that third period got away from him in Laval uh in his last start, but he was excellent in his first three. So, fired up for that. Fired up for Senators hockey tonight, too. Any final thoughts on today’s show? Final thoughts for me is get your caffeine beverages and your schedule for caffeine properly uh regulated here, guys. It’s a 1000 p.m. start. It’s in Vegas. Let’s uh let’s make sure we’re we’re awake. We’re ready to go. And I want to see as many Sens fans in the postcast as possible. Uh we love having you guys there. And a boots on the ground report. Can’t beat it. Yeah. Only one more 10 p.m. start later this season. It’ll be a Saturday in Seattle. Even Vancouver is going to be a 9:00 Eastern game. So take advantage of this. Get the nap in after work or wherever you are. Just make sure that you got the alarm set for 959. Get uh couple minutes. get the TV on pregame and then puck drop in Vegas. Huge measuring stick game tonight for the Ottawa Sanders. We’re looking forward to it. We hope you are too. For Brandon Pillar, I’m Ross Levitan. Thank you for liking, watching, listening, and engaging with the show. Leave a fivestar review everywhere you get your podcast and subscribe to Locked On Senators on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. This has been another edition of the Locked On Senators podcast, your team every day.

Ross Levitan and Brandon Piller preview the Ottawa Senators’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights, discuss lineup changes, players to watch, and what the Sens need to do to get a big win in Vegas. We share key stats, stories, and insights on team performance.

00:00 – Game Day Preview & Mark Stone’s Return
17:36 – Senators Lineup & Players to Watch
23:57 – Vegas Lineup and Keys to Victory

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