Can the Ottawa Senators Rebound Against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center?
As the Ottawa Senators gear up to face off against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center, fans are left pondering whether their team can bounce back from recent setbacks. The Senators have displayed a mix of resilience and vulnerability in their past games, leaving supporters with a cocktail of hope and trepidation.
In their last encounter on March 22 against the St. Louis Blues, despite being on home ice at Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators fell short with a scoreline that read 2-5. Their performance was marred by giveaways, totaling 15 compared to their opponents' 11, which likely contributed to their negative plus-minus of -21. However, they did manage to outshoot the Blues with 39 attempts on goal but were let down by a mere shooting percentage of five percent.
The powerplay unit showed some promise during this game as they converted one out of three opportunities. This is an area where they could potentially exploit weaknesses in the Wild's defense if given enough chances during their upcoming game.
Looking further back to March 19 against Boston Bruins and March 17 versus Carolina Hurricanes, it's clear that special teams have been both a boon and bane for Ottawa. Against Boston, despite losing with two goals to six, they managed two goals while playing with an advantage but struggled in faceoff win percentage at only thirty-three percent overall. The story was similar against Carolina; although they lost seven goals to two on home ice again – showcasing defensive frailties – there was no conversion on powerplay opportunities despite having four minutes of playtime.
The key takeaway for Ottawa is consistency across all facets of play: maintaining puck possession through winning faceoffs (where they've shown capability), capitalizing on powerplays (an area ripe for improvement), and tightening up defensively (to prevent high-scoring games like those against Carolina).
Minnesota will be no easy adversary; however, if Ottawa can harness some form of stability from these areas highlighted above while minimizing turnovers and increasing shooting accuracy beyond what has been seen recently – there is potential for them not just to compete but possibly secure victory away from home.
Fans eager to see if the Senators can turn things around should mark April 3rd in their calendars when these teams clash at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul at 7:00 PM CT. The game will be available for viewing via ESPN+ online or BSN television network broadcasts.