The Ottawa Senators travel across the border to continue their Atlantic Division road series against the Buffalo Sabres for the first time this season.
Ottawa is without Brady Tkachuk, who suffered a severe wrist injury in the home opening loss to Nashville on Thanksgiving.
This loss of the captain has forced Travis Green to use the blender for his offensive group hoping for some answer outside of pending restricted free agent Shane Pinto. Olle Lycksell will get an extended look on the roster for offense. Donovan Sebrango is on the waiver wire to head to Belleville, and was claimed by Florida due to the loss of Kulikov. Kurtis MacDermid and Nikolas Matinpalo are the expected spares.
Given Buffalo’s history and recent start, this may be the contest to try everything and see if there’s a solution in the room or talent needs acquired or promoted.
Leevi Merilainen is also getting his season debut start against Buffalo.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Zach Benson -- Tage Thompson -- Alex Tuch
Jason Zucker -- Ryan McLeod -- Josh Doan
Jack Quinn -- Jiri Kulich -- Justin Danforth
Beck Malenstyn -- Tyson Kozak -- Peyton Krebs
Bowen Byram -- Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power -- Conor Timmins
Jacob Bryson -- Ryan Johnson
Alex Lyon
Colten Ellis
Scratched: Josh Dunne, Mason Geertsen
Injured: Josh Norris (upper body), Mattias Samuelsson (undisclosed), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body), Michael Kesselring (undisclosed), Jordan Greenway (middle body)
Ottawa Senators
Fabian Zetterlund -- Tim Stutzle -- Michael Amadio
David Perron -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig -- Shane Pinto -- Claude Giroux
Nick Cousins -- Lars Eller -- Olle Lycksell
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven -- Jordan Spence
Leevi Merilainen
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Nikolas Matinpalo
Injured: Brady Tkachuk (hand)
Keys to Victory
- Offensive Opportunities — with no Tkachuk and no Batherson for the Senators, the forwards need to produce and help themselves to collect the points necessary for playoffs. The Sabres have even more injuries, so this is not an excuse.
- Level with Leevi — the backup is in for this contest, set him up for early success.
- Shutdown the Sabres — with a healthy defense group, Ottawa will need to defend the home squad’s brightest young forwards from getting to the crease.
Predicting the Final Score
OTT — 4
BUF — 2
Gambling Odds
Ottawa is favored at a -115 and Buffalo is a -105 according to the odds of NHL Draft Kings.