24 hours after a loss in Washington, the Senators have another huge matchup on Thursday night, hosting the New York Islanders.
After their tough 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, the Ottawa Senators weren't knocked out on Wednesday night, but it was a body blow that landed hard. The loss keeps the Senators five points out of a playoff spot, and now they face the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Boston (WC 1, 82 pts), Detroit (WC 2, 82 pts), and Columbus (81 pts), the teams the Senators (77 pts) are trying to catch, were all off on Wednesday. So, as all four teams play on Thursday night, the Senators are the only team in a back-to-back situation.
Image: NHL.comSens fans probably don't bother to notice the Islanders' standing because it seems like they've been out of the wildcard jam for a while. But they're anything but home free. They're only one point up on the wild card teams and two points up on the Blue Jackets, who could force an early spring on Long Island.
So, as many games are this time of the year in this parity-laced league, this game in Ottawa on Thursday has heavy playoff implications for both teams.
It will be interesting to see if Travis Green will, for the second time in a week, go to Linus Ullmark in a back-to-back. He allowed just two goals in the loss to Washington, and while the Sens' inability to score was the sole reason they lost, Tom Wilson's game-winner was a shot Ullmark had to stop. If he's not in, James Reimer is ready to take his ballcap off.
The Senators and Islanders haven't played since last October when Anders Lee broke a tie with 1:03 remaining in the third period to give the Islanders a 5-4 win. It wasn't a great early first impression for newcomer Jordan Spence, who, as last man back, coughed up the puck to Lee, just as the game appeared headed to overtime.
Spence has been one of the bright spots for the Senators in Jake Sanderson's absence. Whether it's causation or correlation, the Sens have scuffled offensively in four of the five games since Sanderson went down, scoring two goals or less in four of those games.
As the NHL regular season nears its conclusion, the scoring trouble might also be a case of squeezing the sticks too hard. The Senators know what they might be capable of if they can manage to sneak into the playoffs, and the worry about missing out on that chance may be starting to create some pressure.
The Islanders are led, in part, by rookie Matthew Schaefer, who's a good bet to win the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. He's been right at home in the NHL, scoring 20 goals and 49 points, good for second on the team in both categories. But he might not be at his best for this one. Schaefer is under the weather and didn't take part in the game day skate on Thursday, but Patrick Roy said he expects him to be ready for game time.
The Isles will look a little different than the last time they were here five months ago. They acquired Brayden Schenn at the NHL trade deadline, along with fellow Stanley Cup winner Ondrej Palat.
But there are some familiar faces, too. It's a return home for former Senator J.G. Pageau, and it's hard to believe he's already been gone for six years. Pageau recently signed a three-year extension with the Isles with a cap hit of $4,850,000 per season.
Here are the lineups, as per NHL.com.
Senators projected lineup
Drake Batherson -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk -- Dylan Cozens -- Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio
Warren Foegele -- Lars Eller -- Fabian Zetterlund
Thomas Chabot -- Artem Zub
Tyler Kleven -- Jordan Spence
Dennis Gilbert -- Nikolas Matinpalo
James Reimer
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Stephen Halliday, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Jake Sanderson (upper body), Nick Jensen (lower body)
Islanders projected lineup
Emil Heineman -- Bo Horvat -- Mathew Barzal
Anthony Duclair -- Brayden Schenn -- Simon Holmstrom
Anders Lee -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Calum Ritchie
Ondrej Palat -- Casey Cizikas -- Kyle MacLean
Matthew Schaefer -- Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech -- Tony DeAngelo
Carson Soucy -- Scott Mayfield
Ilya Sorokin
David Rittich
Scratched: Max Shabanov, Marc Gatcomb, Adam Boqvist
Injured: Kyle Palmieri (ACL), Alexander Romanov (upper body), Semyon Varlamov (knee)
Face off is 7 pm (TV: TSN5, RDS2)
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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