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After starting out December by playing their most consistent hockey of the season, Ottawa dropped back to back road games. The Sens got dominated for extended periods of time in both after starting out the road game trip with a solid 6-3 win in Detroit.

With two critical homes in the next 48 hours, Ottawa looks to get back to playing .500 on the season. The 6-1-1 start to the month prior to their last two losses had the Sens slowly creeping back into contention for the last wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. All four losses this month have come against teams that currently hold down a playoff spot. With Washington and Detroit coming to town, the Sens can ill afford not to grab the four points in the standings as they hit the Christmas break.

Ottawa is hoping to get Artem Zub back tomorrow night, which would be huge for the blue line considering how much the defense has struggled in their most recent road losses. As I had written about this space on a few occasions, Zub's camp had been seeking at least a four year deal with a 5M AAV, so to get Zub signed at a 4.6M AAV, Sens GM Pierre Dorion did exceptionally well in securing his top 4 on the blue line.

Expect Anton Forsberg to get the start in goal tomorrow night, coupled with the possible return of Zub, one has to wonder who will be a healthy scratch on defense. Nikita Zaitsev had played some solid hockey for a long stretch but his last two games out, along with most of the team, he struggled like he did to start the season. With DJ Smith only playing Erik Brannstrom a little over 12 minutes a game on average while Zub has been out of the lineup, you would imagine either one of these players will take a seat in the press box.

Tim Stutzle and JBD could be the next two players to return from injury, while Josh Norris and Mathieu Joseph continue to skate with the team with the potential for both to return by the end of the month.

Predictions on the next two games? Who do you think gets scratched on defense with Zub returns? Does Rourke Chartier keep a spot in the lineup over Dylan Gambrell when Tim Stutzle returns?

Thanks for reading.
Kevin

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