Just three games left on what has been a season-defining road trip for the Ottawa Senators.
When they initially embarked on this nine-game odyssey, it was pretty clear that this was going to be a make-or-break stretch. Treading water felt like an acceptable outcome too, especially given their previous struggles away from home. Safe to say they’ve exceeded expectations.
With a gutsy win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night, the Senators moved to 4-2-0 on the trip. They’ll look to build on that effort when they visit the Stars on Thursday night in Dallas.
Could be some shuffling to the lineup tonight.
First of all, the good news. Artem Zub took a regular spot in the game day skate rotations which seems to suggest that he returns. The more concerning news is that Tim Stutzle did not participate in the skate. Seems like just a placeholder in his spot though which would suggest he’s good to go but we’ll wait to hear from the Coach.
Here’s how they are expected to line up…
Tkachuk-Pinto-Greig
Gaudette-Stützle-Batherson
Cousins-Norris-Giroux
Reinhardt-Ostapchuk-Gregor
Sanderson-Hamonic
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-Zub
Leevi Merilainen gets the start in goal.
Puck drop is scheduled for just a shade after 8:00 PM in Dallas. The game is available on TSN5 and TSN1200. Streaming options have a way of appear in the comment section below.
Here’s a closer look at this evening’s match-up via the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 19-15-2 (40 pts) | 22-13-1 (45 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.06 (15th) | 3.19 (11th) |
| Goals Against | 2.83 (11th) | 2.53 (2nd) |
| Power Play | 25.0% (7th) | 15.3% (28th) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.5% (23rd) | 84.7% (2nd) |
| Shots For | 30.4 (6th) | 31.0 (3rd) |
| Shots Against | 27.5 (11th) | 26.3 (4th) |
| Leading Scorers | Stutzle-40 pts Batherson-36 pts Tkachuk-35 pts Giroux-24 pts Norris-22 pts |
Duchene-33 pts Robertson-28 pts Marchment-27 pts Benn-25 pts Johnston-25 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Leevi Merilainen 2-1-0 2.68 GAA, .900 sv% |
Jake Oettinger 17-9-1 2.38 GAA, .909 sv% |
