The Senators play host the the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, who will make their only appearance in Ottawa of the regular season.
Obviously the spotlight will be on Patrick Kane, who leads his team in goals, assists and points. Not only his team, but he leads the league in points and assists, and is second in goals. The early season slam dunk for MVP is also riding a 20 game point streak and will tie the franchise record if he can get a point tonight.
Also, another player to keep an eye on is rookie Artemi Panarin, who has filled in nicely alongside Kane and Artem Anisimov to form a very potent line, and is among the favorites in the Calder race that opened up when Connor McDavid suffered his collarbone injury last month. Panarin leads all rookies with 16 assists and 23 points.
The Hawks have juggled their lines in recent days, experimenting with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa on different lines to spread out the scoring punch. They were forced to make moves that has hurt their depth, as often comes with success, and they are looking for the right combinations. Gone from the cup winner are key contributors like Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Brad Richards, Bryan Bickell (minors) and Johnny Oduya so they are going through an adjustment period despite the explosiveness of Kane line.
THe Senators will have a new look as they decided against calling up another forward in the wake of Milan Michalek's injury and Mika Zibanejad's doubtful status. Instead, if Zibanejad cannot play (and it looks like he won't), the Senators will dress 7 defensemen (including the return of Patrick Wiercioch) and might experiment with one of them at forward. Local radio had some fun this morning toying with the idea of playing Erik Karlsson at forward, but don't expect it. If it happens, I would expect Mark Borowiecki and/or perhaps Jared Cowen to shuttle back and forth if/as needed.
Either way, it does mean that Colin Greening, the guy who just wouldn't go away, will dress and make his season debut for the Senators tonight and use up another of his apparent 9 NHL lives.
This game begins an incredibly tough stretch that pretty much runs to the new year, and it would be a great chance for them to get off on the right note against a very formidable opponent. Chicago is under .500 on the road, but have 5 points in their last 3 games, a trip through California.
You can write the Flyers loss on Tuesday off to the "first game after a road trip" blues, but the Senators need to find a way to avoid prolonged lulls in their play, and that will be even tougher if they are playing with 11 forwards.
Here is how the team lined up at practice this morning:
Hoffman - Turris - Ryan Prince - Pageau - Stone Lazar - Smith - Chiasson Greening - - Neil
I am not sure why they wouldn't have made the call to bring up Matt Puempel, because that group looks pretty thin. And still Lazar can't find a role in the middle, although he will probably get his share of turns between Greening and Neil, which is sure to give him an offensive boost!