Senators and Mammoth Enter Saturday's Showdown Dead Even In The NHL Standings

The Senators return to Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night looking to build on a hard-fought victory in Buffalo. They'll welcome the Utah Mammoth for the first meeting between the two clubs this season.

It's a matchup between two teams that have enjoyed nearly identical starts. Both enter the game with 10-6-1 records and 21 points.

What's New?

Despite their solid start to the season, the Senators still have zero room for error. They're the top wild card team in the East, which is tracking to be ridiculously tight again this season. The top three Atlantic teams (Boston, Montreal, and Tampa Bay) all have points percentages of .713 or better.

The Senators are coming off Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, a game in which Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio scored third-period goals to erase a 1-0 deficit.

Samuel Ersson made 24 saves in the victory, continuing an impressive turnaround after a shaky start to his Sens career. Ersson has now won consecutive starts while allowing just two goals, and he'll get another opportunity Saturday night.

Utah, meanwhile, is coming off a wild 5-4 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Who's Hot?

Against the Habs, Logan Cooley got his second hat trick in four games. There's nothing Cold about Cooley, who has 10 of his 11 goals in just the last seven games. 

But he's not the only guy to worry about. The Mammoth are the only team in the NHL with four guys who've hit the 20 point mark already.

Captain Clayton Keller leads the Mammoth with 22 points. Nick Schmaltz, who once had a seven-point game against the Senators, has 20.

But perhaps Utah's biggest surprise in the 20-point club is defenceman Mikhail Sergachev. The former Montreal Canadiens first-rounder in on pace for a career year, sitting fourth among all NHL defencemen in points (20). 

Tim Stützle is the only 20-point man for the Sens, and continues to establish himself among the NHL's elite offensive players. The Senators centre has nine goals and 22 points through 17 games. Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson are also point a game players for the Sens.

Line combinations and Injury Updates

The Senators are gradually getting healthier, but several important players remain unavailable.

Linus Ullmark participated fully in Friday's practice but isn't ready to return from his lower-body injury. Ersson will make another start, with Jonas Johansson serving as his backup.

Ridly Greig is also dealing with a lower-body injury and remains day to day.

Warren Foegele, Andre Burakovsky and William Eklund are still out and aren't likely to be back anytime soon. Tyler Kleven missed Wednesday's game but was a full participant at practice on Friday. Senators head coach Travis Green mentioned a couple of game-time decisions but didn't say who they were. 

Senators Projected Lines

Nick Cousins – Tim Stützle – Fabian Zetterlund

Philip Tomasino – Shane Pinto – Drake Batherson

Michael Amadio – Dylan Cozens – Claude Giroux

Samuel Blais – Stephen Halliday – Hayden Hodgson

Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot – Jordan Spence

Tyler Kleven – Carter Yakemchuk/Nikolas Matinpalo

Goaltenders: Samuel Ersson, Jonas Johansson

For Utah, defenceman Nate Schmidt was hurt against Montreal, joining John Marino and Maveric Lamoureux on the injury list. Forward Kailer Yamamoto is also unavailable.

Mammoth Projected Lines

Anders Lee – Barrett Hayton – Clayton Keller

Logan Cooley – Vincent Trocheck – Lawson Crouse

Jack McBain – Nick Schmaltz – Dylan Guenther

Michael Carcone – Kevin Stenlund – Liam O'Brien

Mikhail Sergachev – Mackenzie Weegar

Artem Duda – Andrew Peeke

Dmitri Simashev – Nick DeSimone

Goaltenders: Karel Vejmelka, Sebastian Cossa

The Senators will celebrate Alumni Night on Saturday, welcoming back several former players, many of whom played in a Battle of Ontario alumni game in Peterborough on Friday night.

Participating players included Craig Anderson, Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Wade Redden, Shaun Van Allen, Jason York, Brian McGrattan, Shean Donovan, Jesse Winchester, Dean McAmmond, Laurie Boschman and Scott Greenham. Chris Phillips and Peter Schaefer were behind the bench.

The game will also mark Shane Pinto's 300th career NHL game.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa