Oilers v. Senators - Genesis 5:21-24

When Ales was in his third season, he helped his team to the Stanley Cup Finals. He then spent seven more season in Edmonton. Ales walked with God in all of those years, delighting everyone with his skills. Then finally in the eighth season he disappeared because God felt compassion for him.

Ottawa Senators @ Edmonton Oilers

Rexall Place, 7:30 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet

The Race to the Bottom (It's Happening Again):

Visiting Team Scouting Report: I find myself cheering for the Ottawa Senators this season, mostly because a run by the Senators might knock the Leafs out of the playoff picture. Fortunately, the Senators are even a decent team. They're currently 13th in the NHL (and 6th in the Eastern Conference) with a Fenwick percentage of 51.2% with the score tied in five-on-five situations. Their strong PDO of 101.2 in those situations would lead you to believe that the club is winning on a regular basis, but alas, that hasn't been the case. One reason for that is their -12 special teams goal differential. That poor differential has been driven partially by the number of power plays Ottawa has received compared to their opponents. The Senators have been shorthanded 237 times this season compared to just 206 opportunities on the power play. That -31 differential is the worst in the NHL.

Expected Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers (20-34-8):

Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Yakupov
Hemsky - Gagner - Eberle
Hendricks - Gordon - Perron
Gazdic - Smyth - Jones

Marincin - Petry
N Schultz - J Schultz
Fraser - Ference

Scrivens

Ottawa Senators (27-23-11):

Michalek - Spezza - Conacher
MacArthur - Turris - Condra
Hoffman - Zibanejad - Ryan
Greening - Smith - Neil

Methot - Karlsson
Phillips - Ceci
Weircioch - Gryba

Anderson

By The Numbers:

• Since the start of the 2005-06 season, Ales Hemsky is 57th in total regular season points with 411 and tied for 54th in points per game with 0.79. It's obvious that his production has dropped off sharply over the last two seasons, which in some ways makes that accomplishment more impressive.
• Ales Hemsky has scored just 0.44 points per game so far this season, the worst offensive output of his career. Even as a 19-year-old rookie, Hemsky scored 0.52 points per game playing just twelve minutes per night.
• Ales Hemsky is currently 14th on the Oilers' all-time list with 651 games played, just two behind Ethan Moreau and Dave Hunter who are tied for 12th. He's also 8th in points with 475 but could tie Doug Weight for 7th if he manages to score 102 points in tonight's game.