The Chicago Blackhawks may not have won, but the Ottawa Senators will be ready for battle.

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You have to do a lot of searching through the NHL rankings to find the Chicago Blackhawks these days.

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Nine games into the season, the Hawks rank 31st in the NHL with a 0-7-2 record after losing a 1-0 decision to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday on the road.

After a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Friday and preparing to begin this back-to-back series that continues Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild, the Ottawa Senators will take nothing for granted as they prepare to face the Hawks. Monday night at the United Center.

The Hawks still have Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat in their lineup, plus goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in the offseason. Senators know it will be a difficult test if they are to conclude this road trip with a winning record.

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“They have some high-level, skilled players,” said Sanford, who has three goals and six career points in seven games against the Hawks while with St. Louis. “Kane, Toews, DeBrincat, all those guys can score and make plays. The key to playing hard, being responsible and taking care of the disc ”.

The Hawks are very frustrated, especially Fleury. He is 0-5-0 with the Hawks this season, has a .872 save percentage and an average of 4.53 goals against. Fleury had his best game in a Chicago uniform, stopping 36 of 37 shots against the Blues on Saturday, but didn’t get any offensive support.

“At the end of the day, all I want is a win,” Fleury said Saturday night. “It doesn’t matter how we get it, but it was definitely good not to give up four, five or six goals and to make some key saves to keep us on target. It was more like myself helping the team and I thought the guys fought hard and defended better.

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This is nowhere near what Fleury expected when he made the decision to accept the trade with the Hawks.

“It’s frustrating and embarrassing,” Fleury said of his first month in Chicago. “I’m going in and trying to help the team by stealing some games and getting some wins. We haven’t won yet, we had some excitement with our team, some new additions in the summer and the younger guys have a bit more experience this season.

“We all expected more from our team and it has been difficult, difficult to keep smiling and trying to stay positive. We will do our best by practicing hard to turn this around. We have to get out of this hole and soon. “

Senators prepare for opposition, but they don’t spend a lot of time worrying about them, but about the respect that the Hawks bring.

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“If you look at that roster, they have a great roster there, regardless of what their record is at the moment,” defender Josh Brown told reporters in Chicago after a brief skating on Sunday. “At the end of the day, you watch a video and you take each opponent very seriously. They are still great on the other side of the ice.

“We definitely have to bring our ‘A’ game.”

Let’s be honest, the Hawks should be more concerned about trying to shut down the likes of Josh Norris and Drake Batherson because they’ve been lighting the lamp lately.

“They have really great chemistry and they know where to meet,” Brown said. “They’re both so fast and skilled, it’s honestly a lot of fun to watch and it makes my job quite difficult in practice. As long as they feel good and keep moving the record, I think we’ll be fine. “

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