The Ottawa Senators and the Minnesota Wild have been two of the hotter clubs in the NHL of late with both posting a 7-2-1 record over their last 10 games. Something has got to give, and I think we can expect at least one of these teams to spring a leak tonight.
Here are my keys to the game:
1. Over-performing Goaltenders - While it is true that both Devan Dubnyk and Andrew Hammond have been hot of late, keep this in mind: Hammond is a 27 year old rookie with just five starts under his belt and Dubnyk a veteran with below average numbers for his career. Both are capable of imploding just about any time now, and it could get real ugly if they both were to have a stinker in the same game.
2. Special Teams - The Wild may have been effective in shorthanded situations in recent games and managed to kill off all of their seven penalties at Colorado Saturday. If they keep racking up penalty minutes like that they will get punished here though. The Sens converted on two of their three chances on the man advantage at San Jose their last time out and have a power play goal in both of the last two meetings with Minnesota.
3. X-Factor - The Sens rookie Mike Hoffman scored two of their goals in the 4-2 win against the Sharks Saturday. He has six goals over his last eight games and is leading the team with his 23 goals for the season.

Selection: This is a play on OTT@MIN to go over the total (10*)