The Senators host the slumping Florida Panthers, who are 2-7-1 in their past ten games.
While the Florida Panthers are regarded by everyone as Stanley Cup contenders, they're fading a little, probably getting a little bored waiting for the playoffs to arrive. They're 2-7-1 in their last ten games, and with just six games left in their regular season, they'll soon be looking to ramp things up again so they're on their game for opening night.
As the Panthers face Ottawa on Thursday night, the Senators are hoping they hold off for a day or two...or five.
The two clubs will play twice in the next five days with the return match in Florida on Tuesday. Remarkably, the Sens have to shoehorn eight games into the next 12 days to close out the season. If they were battling for a playoff spot, that schedule would have been hellish for them.
Zero Tkachuks Given: The Tkachuks give as good as they get, but the Battle of the Tkachuks isn't a thing. It's all brotherly love and they always steer clear of each other. What is a thing is that if the Tkachuk brothers are on the ice at the same time, and one of them starts misbehaving, their linemate is going to get it from the other Tkachuk.
Brady has had two incidents this season where he's singlehandedly taking on three Panthers in a scrum, so he goes hard against all Panthers who aren't his brother.
Cue up the Sarah McLachlan: Vladimir Tarasenko returns to Ottawa after his short stint here. He has 10 points in 13 games as a Panther since no-trade-clausing his way out of Ottawa at the deadline.
Lineups: Here's how Paul Maurice and Jacques Martin will lay out their chess pieces tonight:
Panthers projected lineup:
Vladimir Tarasenko -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Nick Cousins -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Evan Rodrigues
Steven Lorentz -- Kevin Stenlund -- Ryan Lomberg
Gustav Forsling -- Josh Mahura
Niko Mikkola -- Brandon Montour
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz
Senators projected lineup
Mathieu Joseph -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk -- Shane Pinto -- Drake Batherson
Jiri Smejkal -- Ridly Greig -- Dominik Kubalik
Boris Katchouk -- Mark Kastelic -- Parker Kelly
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Jakob Chychrun -- Jacob Bernard-Docker
Tyler Kleven -- Erik Brannstrom
Joonas Korpisalo
Anton Forsberg
Injuries: Carter Verhaeghe (undisclosed) and Aaron Ekblad (undisclosed) are both out for the Panthers.
Thomas Chabot (lower body) is getting close and should be ready for the weekend but not tonight. Angus Crookshank (lower body) won't play for the Senators. Crookshank is out indefinitely after getting hurt in Minnesota on Tuesday. Jiri Smejkal is up from Belleville to take his spot. Jakob Chychrun left the morning skate after a collision behind the net, but the Sens remain hopeful he'll be good to go.
Sergei Bobrovsky will make his ninth start in 12 games. Joonas Korpisalo will start for the sixth time in seven games.
He Said It: Head coach Jacques Martin has a ton of respect for the Panthers.
"They're a good hockey team. I mean, they showed (that) last year," Martin said. "They play a heavy game, they play a physical game. They got good depth, so I think we've gotta be prepared to battle hard. I think it's gonna be a tough game, but it's a good test for our hockey club where we're at now.
Here's what the fellas were saying after their practice on Thursday morning.