The Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers each close out the first half of their respective schedules tonight, and the visitor does so as the undisputed hottest team in the league. The Panthers win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday gave the Panthers a double digit franchise record winning streak of 10 games, which they are looking to extend to 11.
The Panthers have lost just once since the Senators beat them in Florida on Dec 8th, and the Senators following game in FLA just before Christmas was the 5th game in this current streak, and the Sens don't want to add a second notch to the Panthers' bedpost.
Ottawa will get Milan Michalek back from the broken finger that has had him on the shelf for more than a month, and Mika Zibanejad will not miss any more time after leaving the last game early on after taking a stick to the eye in the Senators last game.
Cody Ceci skated yesterday and looks good to go although Dave Cameron stopped short of confirming he will be in the lineup. The starting goalie is also unconfirmed, but even though Andrew Hammond beat the Blues it will most likely be Craig Anderson getting back in as the Senators start a 3 games in 4 night stretch. Roberto Luongo, who is one of 3 Panthers who will be participating in the All-Star game, has won 8 straight and will face the Senators tonight.
Both of these teams rely heavily on their top lines, with the trio of veteran Jaromir Jagr and youngsters Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov setting the pace for the Panthers and the newly minted top line of Kyle Turris, Bobby Ryan and Mark Stone looking good in their first game together.
Two of the 3 Atlantic Division All-Star defensemen will be showcased tonight as Aaron Ekblad teads the Panthers with a +16 rating and the club blueline in scoring with 18 points (9G, 9A), while you all know what Erik Karlsson means to the success of the Senators.
The Panthers lead the division by 3 point over the Habs and this streak has quickly separated what for a time was a very tightly bunched group. Florida is now 10 points up on 6th place Tampa, expanding a gap that was just 4 points between 1st and 6th on Dec 27th. Ottawa's win on Monday was big because it kept them within striking distance of the Wild Card spots, and it is tough to regain that spot once contact is lost with it.