Ottawa Senators (10-14-1) vs. Dallas Stars (14-7-5)
The Ottawa Senators head to American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday night to wrap up their two-game regular-season series against the Dallas Stars. Back in October, the Senators beat the Stars 4-2 as slight -115 home favorites, and Ottawa is undefeated in four straight meetings with Dallas.
This time around, the Stars are listed as firm -190 home favorites. The Senators are +171 moneyline underdogs, and the totals sit at 6.0 goals.
The Ottawa Senators have been pretty much a hit-or-miss over the last few weeks, going 5-5 in their previous ten games at any location. Last Tuesday, the Sens failed to extend their winning streak to three games, suffering a 5-2 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings. After a 3-2 overtime victory at the New York Rangers and a 5-2 home win against the lowly San Jose Sharks, the Senators couldn’t cope with the Kings’ frontline, surrendering four goals in the first period.
“Just flat,” Ottawa head coach DJ Smith said. “Gave up way too many chances, didn’t check hard enough. You know, that’s on me. Our preparation to start the game starts with me as the coach and that’s certainly unacceptable, but my job is to make sure th ese guys are ready to play.”
Final stats ?? from tonight's game against LA pic.twitter.com/LNKuVjnBwk
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 7, 2022
Cam Talbot yielded five goals on 14 shots last Tuesday, whereas Anton Forsberg posted 14 saves in relief and kept his net intact. Talbot is now 4-7-0 with a 2.84 GAA and .907 save percentage in 2022-23, while Forsberg sits at 5-7-1 with a 3.20 GAA and .910 save percentage. Cam has started seven of Ottawa’s previous eight contests.
The Senators are 20th in the NHL in goals against (3.32 per game) and 18th in goals for (3.08). They also rank 20th in penalty-killing percentage (76.6%) while going 25-for-93 with the man advantage (tied-6th in the league). Brady Tkachuk leads the way for the Sens with 12 goals and 17 assists, and he’s accounted for four goals and a pair of dishes over the last five games.