The Panthers arrive with a brutal injury list, while Senators welcome a key player back.
For the second straight game, the Senators will host a Florida team that's dealing with key injuries and absences. In the case of the Panthers, who are here on Thursday night, their lineup is way worse off than the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In fact, their outrageous list of absences resembles an all-star team.
(New baby) Matthew Tkachuk
Injured: Aaron Ekblad (hand)
Dmitry Kulikov (broken finger)
Evan Rodrigues (finger)
Sam Reinhart (foot)
Niko Mikkola (knee)
Anton Lundell (ribs)
Uvis Balinskis (fractured foot)
Brad Marchand (lower body)
Aleksander Barkov (knee)
Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)
Seth Jones (foot)
The news is a lot better for the Senators, who get Thomas Chabot back, 17 days after he broke his arm. Linus Ullmark, who was given the morning off will start again in goal for the Sens, who will be looking to bounce back after falling behind 5-0 to the Panthers in the first period in a loss last week.
Senators projected lineup
Drake Batherson -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk -- Dylan Cozens -- Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio
Warren Foegele -- Lars Eller -- Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Jordan Spence
Lassi Thomson -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
James Reimer
Panthers projected lineup (per NHL.com)
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Bennett -- Mackie Samoskevich
Jesper Boqvist -- Eetu Luostarinen -- A.J. Greer
Cole Schwindt -- Tomas Nosek -- Noah Gregor
Nolan Foote — Luke Kunin -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Gustav Forsling -- Mike Benning
Donovan Sebrango -- Ludvig Jansson
Tobias Bjornfot -- Marek Alcher
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov