For the second straight game, the Senators are strategically resting key players as they reach the doorstep of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Last year at this time, the province's hockey fans were getting stoked up for a first-round playoff series between the Senators and Leafs, the first playoff Battle of Ontario in 22 years.
On Wednesday night, they meet again, and the outcome couldn't be more meaningless. While the Senators want to get through the game without injury, Toronto just wants this season to be over.
The Senators announced this morning that Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, and Michael Amadio all won't be in the lineup against the Leafs.
Tkachuk will miss a second straight game after a brief but troubling vision loss during a game on Saturday on Long Island. He told the media on Tuesday that he had all the tests and everything came back fine.
In 60 games this regular season, Tkachuk had 22 goals, 37 assists, and 59 points.
Stutzle, Sanderson, and Chabot have all been dealing with things as well.
Stutzle leads the Sens with 83 points in 80 games, but has recently shown signs that he might be dealing with a nagging upper-body issue.
Sanderson is recently back from an upper-body injury, and Chabot rallied crazy early from a broken forearm.
Amadio getting the night off is a little out of the blue, suggesting he's fighting a little something as well. Amadio might be the most underrated player on the team. He not only posted career bests in goals (15) and points (35), but he's also helped improve a sluggish penalty kill and routinely plays against the other club's best players.
Tyler Kleven is skating, but still injured after taking a puck to the face. He won't play either. Nick Jensen isn't expected to be back anytime soon, if at all.
Here's how the Senators will line up their chess pieces for their regular-season finale against Toronto.
Drake Batherson -- Stephen Halliday -- Claude Giroux
Kurtis MacDermid -- Dylan Cozens -- Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Hayden Hodgson
Warren Foegele -- Lars Eller -- Fabian Zetterlund
Jordan Spence -- Artem Zub
Dennis Gilbert -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Lassi Thomson -- Cameron Crotty
James Reimer
Linus Ullmark
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
Through All The Noise, The Playoff-Bound Senators Held Their Ground
Drake Batherson's Eight-Year Career Climb Is One For The NHL History Books
Senators Announce Plans For 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff Ticket Sales This Week
Shane Pinto Isn’t Just In The Selke Conversation… He Should Be One Of The Favourites
Great Opportunities: The Rise Of Senators Defenseman Jordan Spence