Ottawa won the first meeting last month 6-3, with Stutzle, Giroux and Joseph combining for 10 points.
The Matchup: The Battle of Ontario will be rekindled Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre when the Toronto Maple Leafs (12-6-4, 5th in the Atlantic Division) match up against the Ottawa Senators (10-10-0, last in the Atlantic Division).
Faceoff: Thursday, December 7th, 2023, 7 p.m, (TSN 5, RDS 2)
The Teams: The Leafs have been average in most categories this season, including goals for/against, power play, penalty kill, and goaltending. Interestingly, even though Toronto has a better record than the Senators, Ottawa has a slightly better goal differential than the Leafs. Also, the Senators are averaging more goals per game and slightly fewer goals allowed per game than the Leafs.
The History: The Senators dominated the Leafs in their first meeting of the season, winning 6-3 on November 8th. Ottawa was led by the line of Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, and Mathieu Joseph, who combined for 10 points in the game.
Auston Matthews has absolutely dominated the Senators in his career. Everyone remembers his four goals against the Senators in his NHL debut, but Matthews has always been a thorn in their side. In 30 games against Ottawa, he has 23 goals and 44 points.
In 18 games against the Leafs, Stutzle has tried his best to match Matthews in their encounters, putting up 18 points.
What's New: The Leafs come into Thursday's game after a five-day break, and going 6-2-2 in their last ten games. Meanwhile, the Senators have won two in a row as they try to capitalize on having several games in hand on the rest of the NHL. They've played the fewest games in the league and look to get back over .500 with a win.
For DJ Smith, he knows there are more emotions when it comes to the Battle of Ontario, but told the media Thursday morning he doesn't want his team to get carried away with the extra emotion, knowing it can carry over into mistakes – especially against Toronto's firepower.
"They're as good as anyone in the National Hockey League offensively," Smith said. "So, we're gonna have to make sure that we defend and defend properly."
The Lineups: Thomas Chabot will be out once again for the Sens with an apparent knee injury. He was hurt on Saturday against Seattle and we still don't know yet how long he'll be out. Anton Forsberg is expected to get his third straight start following a 33-save performance on Tuesday against the Rangers.
For the Maple Leafs, Ilya Samsonov is sick, so they've recalled Martin Jones on an emergency basis. Joseph Woll is expected to start.
Probable Line Combinations:
Tarasenko-Stutzle-Batherson
Tkachuk-Norris-Giroux
Kubalik- Greig – Joseph
Kelly -Chartier -MacEwen
Sanderson-JBD
Chychrun-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Zub
Forsberg