Chicago Blackhawks vs. Ottawa Senators Pick & Prediction APRIL 15th 2025
Preview and Prediction
The Ottawa Senators are preparing for the postseason as they get ready for their second-to-last game of the regular season on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, who will be visiting them.
In light of this, captain Brady Tkachuk joined his Ottawa teammates for practice on Monday, wearing a non-contact jersey. This was his first time practicing with the team since sustaining an upper-body injury against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30.
According to Senators coach Travis Green, Tkachuk, who has recorded 29 goals and 55 points in 71 games, is expected to be ready to play when the playoffs begin on April 19. Ottawa (44-30-6, 94 points) has secured the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and will face either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
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Green stated, "He has to (practice). If you want to be at the top of your game after being out for a while... he's no different than any other player, you have to come back and get some practice time. He's been skating on his own for a while now and it's great to have him back with the team. I thought he looked sharp."
The upcoming game against the Blackhawks will mark the eighth consecutive game that Tkachuk has missed.
The Senators have won five of their last six games, including a 4-3 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Tim Stutzle scored his second goal of the game just 1:40 into overtime, and also had an assist, bringing his total points to 75 (23 goals, 52 assists) in 80 games.
Green commented on Stutzle's performance, saying, "Like a lot of our guys, he's matured a lot. And he's a little bit different, they're all a little bit different, but he's a highly offensive player and he's still very young. So he's still learning what his offensive capabilities are and still getting checked hard from other teams. We're just scratching the surface; I don't think guys reach their peak until probably 25, 26, 27, somewhere in there. And that's exciting for not only him, but for a few other guys as well."
The game against the Blackhawks will be the final game of the season for Chicago (24-46-11, 59 points), who have won three of their last five games, including a 4-3 shootout victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Frank Nazar, who scored a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, commented on their win, saying, "(The Canadiens) needed to win this game to secure a playoff spot, so you know that they're going to come out hard. We knew that, so we just prepared and had a routine going into the game, a plan."
Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Reichel also scored for the Blackhawks, while Arvid Soderblom made 18 saves before stopping all three Montreal attempts in the shootout. Chicago was leading 3-2 with three minutes left in the game before the Canadiens tied it up.
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Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno expressed his pride in the team's performance, saying, "That to me shows growth in our group, right? To get them to score one late and come back and find a way to get the win in the shootout, it's exciting for our group."
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Ottawa Senators
Jonathan Toews scored 42 seconds into overtime, and the Chicago Blackhawks rallied for a 3-2 win over the host Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Dominik Kubalik added two goals for the Blackhawks, continuing a torrid stretch in which he has scored in five consecutive games. Chicago posted back-to-back wins for the first time this month.
Toews and Patrick Kane each recorded two assists for the Blackhawks.
Toews clinched the victory when he held the puck in the high slot before rifling a shot past Senators goaltender Marcus Hogberg.
Connor Brown had a goal and an assist, and Chris Tierney also scored for Ottawa, whose winless streak reached eight games (0-4-4). Each of the Senators' past three losses have come in overtime or a shootout round.
Blackhawks goaltender Robin Lehner made 20 saves to earn the victory.
Hogberg turned aside 27 shots but fell to 1-2-5 on the season.
Ottawa opened the scoring 3:33 into the first period. Brown, on his 26th birthday, stood near the left side of the crease and poked in a rebound for his eighth goal.
The Senators increased their lead to 2-0 when Tierney scored on an odd-man rush at 7:21 of the first period. Thomas Chabot fed a perfect pass to Tierney, who converted for his seventh goal.
Kubalik then took control with back-to-back goals to even the score at 2-2.
The 24-year-old from the Czech Republic notched his first goal of the night when he cleaned up a loose puck with 2:40 left in the second period. He followed that with his second goal of the game and his 18th of the season when he scored on a mini-breakaway 3:41 into the third period.
Kubalik became the first Chicago rookie to score two goals in consecutive games since Artemi Panarin did so on Jan. 5-6, 2016. Kubalik also moved into first place among NHL rookies in goals scored this season, breaking a tie with the Buffalo Sabres' Victor Olofsson.
Ottawa has not beaten Chicago since Dec. 20, 2016, going 0-3-3 in the past six head-to-head meetings.