Detroit Red Wings (6-7 SU, 10-3 PL, 7-6-0 O/U) vs Ottawa Senators (5-7 SU, 6-6 PL, 8-4-0 O/U)
When: 7:35 PM EDT, Thursday, November 2, 2017
Where: Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario
Lines: Ottawa -141/ Detroit +128
Total: 5.5
Tonight on the ice, a pair of Atlantic Division foes will square off as the Detroit Red Wings will rumble with the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The Red Wings come in off a 5-3 home win over Arizona, while the Senators come in off an 8-3 home loss to the Canadiens. Goalie Probables: Jimmy Howard will get the nod for the Red Wings and he will be opposed by Craig Anderson.
Red Wings Hand Coyotes Another Loss
The Detroit Red Wings took on the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night and the Coyotes were coming off their first win of the year, but they could not make it two in a row as the Red Wings handed them a 5-3 loss. Detroit jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and led 4-1 heading to the 3rd, but the Coyotes scored the first two of the 3rd to make it interesting before the Wings got an empty-netter late to seal the deal. The Red Wings have now won their last two games, after losing their previous six games, but taking down Arizona at home is a bit different than trying to take down the Senators on the road. Scoring in the win over the Coyotes was Gustav Nyquist, which was his 4th of the year, Luke Glendening, which was his 3rd of the year, Anthony Mantha, which was his 5th of the year, Dylan Larkin, which was his 2nd of the year and Darren Helm, which was his 2nd of the year. Snatching up the win against the Coyotes was Jimmy Howard, who stopped 30 of the 33 shots that he faced in the game. On the year, he is 5-4 with a 2.57 GAA and a .927 save percentage, including 3-2 with a 2.24 GAA and a .938 save percentage on the road. In his career, he has gone 90-88 with a 2.53 GAA on the road and 42-27 with a 2.33 GAA during the month of November, plus he has gone 28-40 with a 2.47 GAA against the Atlantic Division, while against the Senators he has gone 7-5 with a 2.74 GAA.
The Red Wings have been poor on offense so far as they come in ranked 25th in the league in scoring at 2.69 gpg, while also ranking 19th in shots taken (31.5 spg) and 26th in power play conversions, converting on 13.6% of their chances. At the defensive end of the ice, they have been a bit below average so far as they check in at 16th in goals allowed, giving up just 2.92 gpg, while also ranking 29th in shots allowed (34.7 spg) and 9th in penalty kill, allowing teams to convert on 1t6.4% of their chances.
Anderson Gets Crushed By The Habs
The Ottawa Senators are not off to a great start and they come in off a bad 8-3 home loss to a Montreal team that has really struggled in the early going of the year. Coming into that game, the Habs were one of the worst offensive teams in the league, but they got their offense going at the expense of Craig Anderson, who allowed six goals on just 15 shot attempts through two periods before getting pulled in favor of Mike Condon, who allowed the final two goals on 14 shot attempts. He has struggled with the Habs in his career and is now 10-14 with a 3.28 GAA against them. He will be back in the crease for this one and is 4-5 with a 3.14 GAA and a .895 save percentage on the year, including 2-5 with a 3.81 GAA and a .879 save percentage at home. In his career, he has gone 122-114 with a 2.65 GAA in his home games and 33-42 with a 2.79 GAA during the month of November, plus he is 68-59 with a 2.54 GAA against the Atlantic Division, while against the Red Wings he has gone 6-12 with a 2.71 GAA. The Sens actually had a 1-0 lead after just 21 seconds in the loss to the Habs, but they were still down 4-2 after the first period and never recovered from that. Scoring in the loss was Tom Pyatt, which was his 3rd of the year, Ryan Dzingel, which was his 4th of the year and Christopher DiDomenico, which was his 2nd of the year.
Ottawa has been very good at the offensive end of the ice so far as they come in ranked 7th in the league in scoring at 3.58 gpg, while also ranking 15th in shots taken (32.0 spg) and 12th in power play conversions, converting on 19.6% of their chances. At the defensive end of the ice, they have been decent so far as they rank 19th in goals allowed, giving up just 3.08 gpg, while also ranking 18th in shots allowed (32.1 spg) and 4th in penalty kill, allowing teams to convert on just 11.8% of their chances.
Trends
Detroit is:
- 18-38 in their last 56 vs. Eastern Conference
- 5-16 in their last 21 when their opponent allows five goals or more in their previous game
Ottawa is:
- 15-7 in their last 22 games following a loss of three or more goals
- 13-6 in their last 19 after allowing five goals or more in their previous game
The Ottawa Senators have struggled to start the season and while the Red Wings have struggled overall, they have won their last two games. Still, this is a game that the Sens can and must win. Ottawa has not played well at home and Craig Anderson does not have good numbers against Detroit, but this is a different Detroit team that will not be in the postseason for a second year in a row, The Red Wings are 4-01 the last five in this series, but the home team is 5-2 the last seven and I look for a desperate Ottawa team to come up with the effort needed to grab a much-needed win.