Despite the loss to the Edmonton Oilers heading into the break, the Ottawa Senators have to feel pretty good about where they stand as play resumes post-holidays.
They have an 18-14-2 record, which has them sitting in the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re four points back of the Boston Bruins for a top three spot in the Atlantic Division and with a few games in hand.
The schedule is still pretty daunting the next couple weeks though. Five more games on this road trip, including two back-to-backs and stops in Winnipeg, Minnesota, Dallas, St. Louis and Detroit.
Meaningful games in December and January, anybody?
The Ottawa Senators visit the high-flying Jets on Saturday night in Winnipeg.
It goes without saying but injuries are definitely still a concern for the Sens coming out of the break.
Both Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg are out, meaning that Leevi Merilainen and Mads Sogaard will have to hold the fort in net. Meanwhile Michael Amadio and David Perron are still sidelined up front and Artem Zub is out on the backend. Zack Ostapchuk and Cole Reinhardt are the replacements at forward and Nikolas Matinpalo has been recalled as a 7th defenceman for the road trip.
Here is how the Senators are expected to line up for this one.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
Reinhardt-Norris-Batherson
Cousins-Pinto-Greig
Gregor-Ostapchuk-Gaudette
Sanderson-Hamonic
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-Bernard Docker
Mads Sogaard is the starter tonight.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM in Winnipeg. The game is available on CityTV, Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 360. TSN1200 has the radio feed and your friendly neighbourhood internet pirates will provide the streaming options.
Wondering how the Sens match-up against tonight’s opponent and have spent the last few weeks longing for the return of the best damn statistical table in the business? Well I’m afraid the HEAD2HEAD table will have to do.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 18-14-2 (38 pts) | 25-10-1 (51 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.09 (14th) | 3.69 (2nd) |
| Goals Against | 2.85 (12th) | 2.47 (2nd) |
| Power Play | 23.7% (8th) | 32.1% (1st) |
| Penalty Kill | 77.3% (22nd) | 79.4% (18th) |
| Shots For | 30.0 (8th) | 28.6 (14th) |
| Shots Against | 27.5 (11th) | 29.1 (23rd) |
| Leading Scorers | Stutzle-39 pts Batherson-34 pts Tkachuk-33 pts Giroux-22 pts Norris-21 pts |
Connor-47 pts Scheifele-42 pts Morrissey-33 pts Vilardi-31 pts Ehlers-27 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Mads Sogaard 1-0-0 6.96 GAA, .765 sv% |
Connor Hellebuyck 22-5-1 2.07 GAA, .927 sv% |
