After licking their wounds from the split squad sweep at the hands of the Leafs, the Senators will send a "B" squad to Buffalo to take on the Sabres, who will start Robin Lehner in net against his former team.
Just one of the anticipated top 6 forwards will be making the trek to Buffalo, centre Mika Zibanejad. None of the top 4 blueliners and neither NHL goalie will make the journey either, as Matt O'Connor and Chris Driedger will strap on the pads. You can see the complete 25 man traveling roster HERE
Instead, it will feature a lot of the players battling for roster spots and depth chart ranking. Twenty-five players are on the roster, so not all will play but it will be a big night for the likes of Jared Cowen, Chirs Wideman, Michael Kostka and Frederik Claesson. When the Senators split into what essentially amounts to NHL and AHL groups for practices yesterday, Claesson was skating with the AHL group while Kostka was with the NHL group. Perhaps a bit of a surprise, but as of right now Kostka could be considered the 8th man ahead of Claesson.
Up front, aside from Zibanejad, the expected third line of Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Milan Michalek and Curtis Lazar could play, and the battle to catch coach and management's eye will continue between the likes of Shane Prince, Matt Puempel, Max McCormick, Chris Neil and I would throw Eric O'Dell into the mix of hopefuls after his performance against the Leafs in Ottawa on Monday.
The Sabres will ice a pretty solid team at home, featuring the debut of not only Lehner but Evander Kane, Ryan O'Reilly and former Ottawa 67's winger Jamie McGinn in Sabres uniforms. One player the Senators will have to wait to face is second overall pick Jack Eichel, who will sit this one out after his 1 goal, 1 assist performance in his preseason debut on Monday night against Minnesota, however highly touted prospect Sam Reinhart, who won a Gold Medal alongside Lazar at the World Juniors, will play for Buffalo.
Three Things To Look For Tonight
1. Jared Cowen - Mixed reviews from Monday night, was good and bad, sometimes on the same shift. He will probably see more time than anyone else on the ice and he won't be able to hide against what will likely be the Sabres top line. How he plays could go a long way to determining his future. The Senators don't need him to be Zdeno Chara or Chris Pronger, and Robyn Regher or Willie Mitchell will suffice, but what they have gotten is Dion Phaneuf. (NOTE: To any Leafs fan that may be reading this, that was simpley intended a joke, building on yesterday's "conversations". Just seeing if you are still out there! Like Cowen, I think the criticisms of Phaneuf are often overblown.) 2. Prince vs Puempel - They played in different cities on Monday night, but they could be on the same line tonight and battling for a spot. Prince's waiver situation gives him an upper hand, as does his versatility in my book. Puempel got more of an audition last season and was helped by timing but can be sent down without having to clear waivers.
3. Max McCormick - If Chris Neil isn't going to play every day, and many of you would be happy with that scenario, McCormick is the type of player that could replace some of the physicality that would be lost in his absence. He could be the biggest surprise on the opening night roster.
Puck drop is at 7:00, with the game being broadcast in the Ottawa region on TSN5 and as always on TSN1200 radio.