Drake Batherson says Shane Pinto is now a fixture in the annual star-laden summer skate out east. The Ottawa Senators are in North Carolina to take on the Hurricanes and it's the only game in the NHL on Friday night. It's probably fitting that it's Friday the 13th because the Senators' past experiences at Lenovo Center have been an American Horror Story. In their last 24 visits to Raleigh, the Senators have just four wins. Naturally, that goes back about 16 years, and the teams' rosters have turned over several times during that time frame, but the recent results aren't favourable either. This will be Ottawa's fifth visit to Carolina since February of 2023. They lost the first four games by a combined score of 16-5, including a 4-0 loss one month ago. With a 5-2-1 mark in their last eight games, the Senators' Eastern playoff hopes still have a pulse. But with several teams in front of them, the club needs to find a way to pound out a month's worth of consistent hockey to be taken seriously as a threat to make the playoffs. Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Brady Tkachuk, and Linus Ullmark, among others, have been doing their part. Past Five Games Batherson: 3 goals, 8 points Stutzle: 7 assists Tkachuk: 3 goals, 2 assists Ullmark: 4-0-1, .944, 1.76 GAA As good as it's been to see Ullmark work his way out of a funk, it can't be ignored that his five game spike has come against non-playoff teams, who all trail the Senators in the standings – the Anaheim Ducks (twice), San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, and Detroit Red Wings. The 18-9-1 Carolina Hurricanes with their 11-3 home record will clearly provide a much tougher test for Ullmark, who starts again tonight. With Cole Reinhardt called up from Belleville as an insurance policy, the Sens will line it up like they did in a 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. If you told Sens fans the Carolina Hurricanes had a player with a chance to be a top three NHL scorer this season, most would assume it's Sebastien Aho. But no, it's Martin Necas, who's absolutely erupted this year with 43 points in 28 games, four points behind Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead. After spending training camp with the Senators, veteran goalie Dustin Tokarski signed with Carolina earlier this month after a brilliant AHL start with the Chicago Wolves. He's expected to be the 'Canes backup tonight. Tonight's projected lineup, according to NHL.com Forwards Svechnikov - Aho - Roslovic Robinson - Kotkaniemi - Necas Martinook - Staal - Jarvis Carrier - Jost - Blake Defense Slavin - Burns Orlov - Chatfield Gostisbehere - Walker Goaltenders Kochetkov Tokarski Face off is 7 pm (RDS TSN 5). Related articles at The Hockey News Ottawa [http://thn.com/ottawa]:
