Video: The Ottawa Senators got some positive injury news on a couple of players. The Montreal Canadiens did not.
The Ottawa Senators' list of possible job openings for opening night just got a little smaller. Centre Josh Norris and defenceman Artem Zub will both be back in the lineup in Montreal on Tuesday, ready to now rejoin the Senators' regularly scheduled program, already in progress.
Zub has missed several days of training camp with a minor injury while the Senators have just been taking their time with Norris, who's trying to rally from another shoulder surgery last winter. This will be his first game of the pre-season.
With those two players back in the saddle, that means the Senators are probably only auditioning for two roles: the third player on their fourth line, and the sixth defenceman on the right side.
Head coach Travis Green told me this morning that he's still legitimately undecided about the remaining roster spots. So this is a really big game for guys like Matthew Highmore, Adam Gaudette, and Zack MacEwen.
19-year-old Carter Yakemchuk continues to give the Sens' brass pause for thought – so much so that they're giving him a chance to look his best on Tuesday, paired with Jake Sanderson, the club's top defenceman.
Claude Giroux is taking what Green said was a maintenance day, ending some media whispers at the morning skate that maybe the Sens' stork had dropped by overnight. No such luck. The Girouxs remain on baby watch.
So here's how the lineup looks for Tuesday in Montreal, with Ottawa's Linus Ullmark scheduled to play the entire game.
The roster news isn't nearly as good in Montreal. The Canadiens are still licking their wounds after bad knee injuries to Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher on the weekend. Both appear to be long-term.
The Habs will rest a bunch of their better players at home. That includes Josh Anderson, Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki.
Here's how the Habs will roll out, according to NHL.com.
Forwards
Roy - Dach - Armia
Heineman- Evans - Gallagher
Barré-Boulet - Dvorak - Kapanen
Pezzetta - Condotta - Tuch
Defensemen
Engström - Savard
Struble - Barron
Xhekaj - Mailloux
Cayden Primeau
Jakub Dobes
Samuel Montembeault.
Face off is 7 pm (TSN)