With the Senators in playoff and lottery purgatory, and the Maple Leafs angling for at least a top 3 pick, the night will put the focus on one guy. Dion Phaneuf. The former Leafs captain has been in Ottawa less than a month and he makes his return to Toronto for a Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada spotlight game.
Phaneuf was pretty much set up to fail given the contract, role and spotlight he was expected to live up to, nearly impossible for the player he is. In Ottawa, while the contract is the same, the role and the expectations are different and he seems to have settled in nicely and solidified the top 4 on most nights. The Senators are 5-5-1 since the trade, so there have been mixed results but that can't be placed solely on the shoulders of Phanuef.
As for the reaction he will get when he plays tonight, who knows? He is and was a polarizing figure in the hottest media spotlight in the league and he could hear some jeers. After all, this is a guy that was soundly booed in Calgary last week, a place where he left 6 years ago via trade and try as I could I couldn't remember anything that would precipitate such a reaction a full 6 years later. I guess he just has that effect on people?
While Phaneuf will be in the spotlight there is still a game to be played and for the Leafs it is a glimpse into the future. Due to injury and trade, the Leafs are icing a young and inexperienced roster that saw them call up William Nylander, Nikita Soshnikov, Kasperi Kapanen, and Zack Hyman on Monday adding to Brandon Leipsic who was called up the week before. The 5 of them have a full 17 games of NHL experience combined.
While there will be no Jared Cowen or Milan Michalek sightings (at least on the ice) the Leafs have been playing the heck out of Colin Greening (at least for Colin Greening). He has 2 goals and 3 assists in his 11 games since joining the Leafs, but after playing around 17 minutes a game he has dropped to about 10 with all the call-ups this week. Cowen has been shut down and put in bubble wrap so that he doesn't hurt himself before the Leafs have the opportunity to buy him out while Michalek is still out with the hand injury he sustained before the trade.
It will be Andrew Hammond in the net for the Senators, probably playing both halves if this quick turnaround back to back, while Garret Sparks will likely be in the Leafs net.
The Sens have won both games against the Leafs so far this season, in a shootout in October and then 6-1 last month, just before the trade went down. Erik Karlsson has 7 assists in the two games including a 4 assist, +5 effort on Feb 6th.