When you talk about pleasant surprises so far in the early going of the season, you have to put the New Jersey Devils near the top.

New Jersey comes into Ottawa with a 5-1 record and tied atop the Metropolitan Division.

Highly-touted NCAA free agent Will Butcher signed with the Devils in the off-season, and so far he has delivered with 9 assists in the Devils' 6 games so far to lead his club in scoring. Another rookie, Jesper Bratt, is tied for the team lead in goals with 3 and is second in points with 6. Add 2017 first overall pick Nico Hischier to the mix and the future is bright even if you are of the opinion that the Devils are currently playing a bit over their heads.

Hischier and Butcher are both still looking for their first NHL goals (Hischier has 4 assists) and if you have been paying attention the Senators have a propensity to be very accommodating of opposition milestones so odds pretty good that at least one will happen tonight.

The Senators will be looking to shut down the Devils and use their second ranked penalty kill to counter the Devils' biggest weapon - their top ranked power play (30.8%)

Ottawa suffered their first regulation loss of the season on Tuesday to the Vancouver Canucks. Erik Karlsson will be playing his second game of the season as he works his way back into game shape and his minutes and responsibility ramp up. An injury to Mark Borowiecki will mean that he is out and Logan Brown will get back into the lineup and the Senators go back to the more traditional 12 forwards and 6 defensemen.

The Senators left a couple of points on the table on Tuesday, playing a solid game but not getting the desired result. They will need to step their game up against a team that is playing as well as any team at the moment, and that is what the Senators have a history of doing, for better or worse. Cashing in on chances when they present themselves like they did in Alberta would go a long way to prevent a single loss from becoming a losing streak, which is really the ultimate recipe for success in the long term. The process they used against Vancouver was right, even if the result wasn't, and they don't need to change much in the approach against the Devils.

Craig Anderson will start for the Senators, most likely facing Cory Schneider in the Devils net.

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