Washington Capitals v Ottawa Senators Live

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Trailing the eight seeded Boston Bruins by five points, the Senators are still hoping to make a run in the second half of this year’s NHL campaign to secure a playoff spot. One deciding factor will be whether Ottawa will be able to improve their stagnant offensive efforts down the stretch. Thus, the Ottawa Senators will host Nicklas Backstrom and the struggling Washington Capitals on Monday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

While it looked like the Caps were bound for another season at the top of the Eastern Conference, the team around All-Star forward Alex Ovechkin slowed down dramatically as they lost seven in a row over the past two weeks. Most importantly, Washington’s dynamic offensive lines struggled to find the net as they have been averaging just 1.3 goals during said losing streak. That said, the Capitals could very well be overdue to play up to their potential and might have an edge over the Senators on Monday.

You can watch all games of the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.

Posted: 24th November 2009

Being right at the top of the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals looked like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender in the first two months of action. Hoping to continue their dominance, Alexander Ovechkin and company will head to Ontario to take on the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place on Tuesday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

Even though most experts expected the Caps to make it to the post-season, very few pictured them as a team that could dominate the Eastern Conference in 2009-10. However, Bruce Boudreau’s squad fed off their phenomenal offense to post an impressive 13-4-4 record. Leading the NHL with 79 goals in just 21 games, the Capitals have been unstoppable at the offensive end of the ice and caused problems for their opponents’ defensive lines night in and night out. The fact that franchise cornerstone Alexander Ovechkin missed the last two weeks with an injury makes the Caps’ offensive efforts even more respectable as they were able to distribute the workload among many shoulders.

In contrast, the Ottawa Senators are not overly content with their performance thus far. More specifically, the Senators are three points away from a playoff spot as they got off to a bumpy 8-6-3 record to start the season. That said, there is still plenty of time to get back into the playoff mix, yet some issues will have to be addressed. Most importantly, they will have to tighten up their defense that allowed three goals per contest in the first two months of play. Albeit three goals per game are not outrageously bad, it might be a little too much unless Ottawa manages to find the net more consistently. Especially more offensive productivity from All-Star Alexei Kovalev would be desirable as the Russian forward only scored 4 goals and 8 points in 17 games so far. Taking everything into consideration, the Washington Capitals will enter their encounter with the Senators as everyone’s favorites to secure a win in Ottawa. Ultimately, Ottawa does not seem to have the defensive strength to withstand being steamrolled by the Caps’ dynamic offense around Alexander Ovechkin.

You can watch all games of the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators right here on www.watchlivenhl.com, the home of NHL live streaming.