The Atlantic Division is going to be tough this year.
You have a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion, the defending President’s Trophy winner, the self-proclaimed perennial Cup favourites, the perpetually competent Bruins and the rapidly improving Sabres and Red Wings.
If the Ottawa Senators are going to play competitive games down the stretch and ultimately challenge for a playoff spot this Spring, these games against division rivals are going to be critically important.
That will be top of mind for the Ottawa Senators as they hit the road for games in Florida and Tampa Bay. Up first- Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers on a Saturday afternoon. Er evening. Anyway, it starts at 4:00 PM.
Injuries are starting to pile up a bit for the Senators and at a pretty tough point in their schedule. Already without their first line centre, Ottawa now has to adjust to life without a top pair defenceman. Artem Zub will miss this one with an upper-body injury that is expected to keep him out for at least a week and maybe more.
Dillon Heatherington was recalled from Belleville but isn’t expected to dress. Nick Holden draws back in for the injured Zub.
No morning skate for the Sens today but here’s a best guess at the lineup.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Batherson
DeBrincat-Brassard-Giroux
Motte-Pinto-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Holden
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Zaitsev
The puck will be dropping just after 4:00 PM in Florida. The game is available on TSN5, TSN1200 and at StreamThoseSens.org.
Here’s a closer look at this afternoon’s match-up courtesy of something I call, the HEAD2HEAD table. It provides a snapshot of relevant statistics and gives you a general sense of the strengths and weaknesses of each team. Also, it looks friggin’ incredible.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-3-0 (8 pts) | 4-3-1 (9 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.86 (4th) | 3.00 (19th) |
| Goals Against | 3.14 (20th) | 3.13 (16th) |
| Power Play | 24.0% (12th) | 8.1% (30th) |
| Penalty Kill | 76.0% (23rd) | 75.8% (25th) |
| Shots For | 33.1 (11th) | 36.9 (4th) |
| Shots Against | 31.3 (11th) | 28.6 (6th) |
| Leading Scorers | Tkachuk- 10 pts Batherson- 10 pts DeBrincat- 8 pts Motte- 6 pts Pinto- 6 pts |
Tkachuk- 10 pts White- 7 pts Forsling- 6 pts Luostarinen- 6 pts Barkov- 5 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Anton Forsberg 3-3-0 2.87 GAA, .908 sv% |
Spencer Knight 2-0-0 2.50 GAA, .906 sv% |
