GAME DAY: Senators Avoid U.S. Flight Shutdown, Prepare To Face Struggling Penguins

The Senators will begin a two-game road trip in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, and fortunately for them, they were able to get into town before Friday's air travel shutdown in the United States.

The Sens (12-6-2) have won three of their last four games and collected seven of a possible eight points in that stretch.

They've climbed into ninth overall in the NHL, despite an ongoing string of injuries that has tested their depth. In the deep Atlantic, where Tampa, Montreal, and Boston have been playing out of their minds in the first quarter of the season, that still only equates to a Wild Card spot at the moment.

The Senators caught a break on Friday, arriving in Pittsburgh before the Trump administration's Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide grounding of flights due to what they claimed were problems with their air traffic control communication.

There was also some concern about whether NHL officials would make it to their assignments. Unlike NHL teams, referees and linesmen generally fly commercially. However, longtime NHL broadcaster John Shannon reported Friday that all referees assigned to the league's 14 games had arrived in their respective cities.

On the ice, the Senators will face a Pittsburgh club that has generally struggled through the opening 19 games of the season, though they did win 2 of 3 on their just completed western swing.

The Pens (7-10-2) sit tied for sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 27th overall in the NHL with just 16 points.

The Senators, meanwhile, have gone 5-4-1 away from Canadian Tire Centre this season.

Saturday's matchup comes less than 48 hours after the Sens earned a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

Shane Pinto was the hero, opening the scoring and then delivering the overtime winner. Pinto became the fifth player in Senators history to score an OT winner on his birthday. For those who curiously like to keep track of such things, the other four were Radek Bonk, Mike Fisher, Thomas Chabot and Josh Norris.

With 17 points in 20 games, Pinto stands third in Sens scoring and looks for all the world like he's finally having his breakout season as an NHL scorer.

Thursday also marked the return of Linus Ullmark, who had missed eight games with a lower-body injury. Ullmark has a 8-1-0 record and has generally had the Penguins’ number, posting a 1.62 GAA and .938 save percentage in 11 appearances. 

While the Senators have been getting contributions throughout the lineup, Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson continue to lead the charge.

Stützle leads the club with 24 points, while he and Batherson share the team lead with 10 goals. Stützle also enters Saturday's game with two points in each of his last four outings, matching the longest such streak of his NHL career.

Meanwhile, 39-year-old Sidney Crosby stands fourth in team scoring with 13 points in 19 games and seeing him outside the top 100 in NHL scoring is certainly unfamiliar territory.

Pittsburgh's offence is led by former Senators captain Erik Karlsson, who has 19 points in 19 games. He’s one of 11 NHL defensemen moving along at a point per game pace in the first quarter of the season.

But it’s already getting late for the Penguins. They’re eight points and six teams out of the final wild card in the East and the hole they’ve dug for themselves will soon be too deep to get out of.

They're also just home from a week-long western road trip, where they won two of three games, but the first game back home after a long road trip can sometimes be a challenge.

According to Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News Pittsburgh, the Penguins will welcome back Marc-Andre Fleury, Larry Murphy, Jim Rutherford, and Jack McGregor and officially add them to the Penguins' Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony.

Following Saturday's game, the Senators will continue their road trip Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.

Puck drop against the Penguins is scheduled for 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa