Welcome to 2020! With only 53 days until the National Hockey League trade deadline, tonight begins the most important stretch of the season for the Ottawa Senators. The Florida Panthers, who sit only four points out of the East's second wild card spot, are in town to get things started.
The Senators juggled their lines at practice on Wednesday, suggesting that there could be a new look for the team come game time on Thursday:
Todays practice lines:
— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) January 1, 2020
Tkachuk- Tierney- Duclair
Paul- Pageau -C.Brown
Ennis- Anisimov- White
Namestnikov- Beaudin- Sabourin
Boedker
Chabot -Goloubef
Borowiecki- Zaitsev
Brannstrom -Jaros
Englund
Per Daily Faceoff, the Panthers are expected to counter with something that looks like this:
Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov Connolly-Trocheck-Acciari Vatrano-Boyle-Hoffman Sceviour-Toninato-Pysyk
Yandle-Ekblad Stillman-Stralman Matheson-Brown
Florida’s first line, in particular, is one that has the potential to give the Senators headaches. Even if Nikita Zaitsev is healthy enough to play, Ottawa’s defence remains depleted in the absence of Dylan DeMelo. It’s the kind of thing that players like Huberdeau, who has tallied 53 points in 39 games this year, and Barkov, who has notched 45 of his own, can take advantage of on any given night.
The bottom line: This year’s Panthers team is as competitive as any Panthers team in the last handful of seasons. If the Senators were in the business of winning, they would pose a daunting challenge. It should be a good game.
As always, thanks for reading.