In the NHL's only game on Monday night, the Ottawa Senators host the Nashville Predators.
The Matchup: Nashville Predators (26-22-1, Fifth Place in Central Division) at Ottawa Senators (18-25-2, Eighth Place in Atlantic Division)
Faceoff: Monday, January 29th, 2024, 7 p.m. (TVAS, SN, NHLN, BSSO)
What's new? The Senators are coming off a dreadful 7-2 loss on home ice Saturday night against the New York Rangers. After grabbing an early 2-0 lead, the Rangers caved in the Senators for seven unanswered goals. That put an abrupt end to Ottawa's run of five games with at least one point (3-0-2).
For the Sens, being hopelessly out of contention at the all-star break has pretty much become the norm, a lingering tradition carried over from the Eugene Melnyk era. What's left of their schedule is basically the start of an extended 2024-25 pre-season schedule, as their new brain trust tries to evaluate what they have and what they need to avoid their annual self-destruction this fall.
For Nashville, the playoffs are already here in a sense. The Predators are in a wild card gunfight out West, trailing both St. Louis and Los Angeles by just one point. Nashville has had an up-and-down January, going 6-6 for the month. Expect a physical battle as the Predators lead the NHL with over 23 hits per game, three more than any other team. There's no shame in Nashville's most recent loss, as they became the 16th team in a row to lose to the Edmonton Oilers, falling 4-1 on Saturday.
Compared to what the Oilers are doing, the Senators might appear to Nashville like they're in slow motion. Tonight's game wraps up a stretch where the Preds played six of their last seven games on the road.
Ottawa's Projected Lineup:
Lineup changes tonight include Ridly Greig on the fourth line while Dominik Kubalik returns to action on the third line with Shane Pinto and Vladimir Tarasenko. Mads Sogaard starts in goal after replacing Joonas Korpisalo in the Ranger disaster.Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stutzle-Claude Giroux
Mathieu Joseph-Josh Norris-Drake Batherson
Dominik Kubalik-Shane Pinto-Vladimir Tarasenko
Ridly Greig-Rourke Chartier-Parker Kelly
Thomas Chabot-Jakob Chychrun
Jake Sanderson-Artem Zub
Erik Brannstrom-Jacob Bernard-Docker
Mads Sogaard
Joonas Korpisalo
Expected healthy scratches: Zack MacEwen, Mark Kastelic
Injuries: Anton Forsberg (groin), Travis Hamonic (upper body)
Nashville's Projected Lineup
Filip Forsberg-Ryan O’Reilly-Gustav Nyquist
Tommy Novak-Cody Glass-Luke Evangelista
Yakov Trenin-Colton Sissons-Denis Gurianov
Cole Smith-Michael McCarron-Kiefer Sherwood
Roman Josi-Dante Fabbro
Ryan McDonagh-Luke Schenn
Jeremy Lauzon-Alexandre Carrier
Juuse Saros
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: Tyson Barrie, Philip Tomasino
Injured: None