The Ottawa Seantors sweep the Toronto Maple Leafs; yet are on the verge of being swept in the series against Montreal. With that, Ottawa and Montreal now hold the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference.

Ottawa outscored Toronto 9-3, including one shutout, in the three games against each other this season. In Game 66, Jake Sanderson; David Perron; Claude Giroux; and Michael Amadio scored. Toronto had goals from William Nylander and Austin Matthews. Ullmark had 21 saves on 23 shots faced for a 0.913 save percentage. Stolarz had 21 saves on 24 shots for a 0.875 save percentage.

Through three games against Montreal, the Habs have outscored the Sens 15-6. In Game 67 at Centre Bell, Ottawa had goals from Drake Batherson; Michael Amadio; and Travis Hamonic (Hamonic’s first goal of the regular season). Montreal had goals from Christian Dvorak; Lane Huston; Josh Anderson (2); Nick Suzuki; and Brendan Gallagher. Linus Ullmark allowed 4 goals on 31 shots for a 0.871 save percentage. Samuel Montembault allowed three goals on 25 shots for a 0.880 save percentage.

Tonight, in game 68, Ottawa hosts the Colorado Avalanche, the former Quebec Nordiques, who have rebuilt this year in the fly. From Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood in the crease; Ryan Lindgren and Erik Johnson on the defense; and adding Martin Necas and Brock Nelson upfront; they have added what they think is necessary to win now and keep MacKinnon and Makar happy.

Ottawa’s six game win streak was snapped by Montreal; but hold a strong 7-2-1 in their last 10 with everything clicking from goaltending to deadline buys.

The Avalanche defeated Ottawa in their first meeting of the season on October 27, 5-4. The Avs are the -120 favorites according to NHL Draft Kings over the Senators at a +100.

Valeri Nichuskin has a three game goal streak and 27 points in 31 games this season. Drake Batherson has 3 goals and 3 assists in his last 4 games.

Projected Lineups

Colorado Avalanche

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas

Jonathan Drouin -- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin

Joel Kiviranta -- Charlie Coyle -- Ross Colton

Miles Wood -- Jack Drury -- Jimmy Vesey

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Ryan Lindgren -- Sam Malinski

Keaton Middleton -- Samuel Girard

Scott Wedgewood

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Erik Johnson, Parker Kelly, Logan O’Connor

Injured: Josh Manson (upper body), Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Tucker Poolman (head)

Ottawa Senators

Brady Tkachuk -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux

David Perron -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson

Ridly Greig -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio

Matthew Highmore -- Adam Gaudette -- Fabian Zetterlund

Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot -- Travis Hamonic

Tyler Kleven -- Nikolas Matinpalo

Linus Ullmark

Anton Forsberg

Scratched: Dennis Gilbert

Injured: Nick Cousins (knee), Nick Jensen (lower body)

Predicted Final Score

OTT — 4

COL — 5

More to come…

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