Pittsburgh Penguins (14-9-9) at Ottawa Senators (15-13-4)
7 pm at Canadian Tire Centre
TV: RDS2, TSN5
Radio: TSN 1200 AM, TSN1200.ca
After a 2-1-0 road trip and a couple of days off, the Ottawa Senators get back to work on Thursday night with a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite being in different divisions, the two clubs have had a pretty good rivalry over the years. No team has faced the Senators in the playoffs more often than the Penguins, who own a 1-4 record in those series.
After a decade under head coach Mike Sullivan, there's a new sheriff in Steeltown. Sullivan and the Penguins agreed to part company after missing the playoffs last season for a third straight year. So he signed on to replace Peter Laviolette as head coach of the New York Rangers, while the Penguins hired Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse to replace Sullivan.
Muse isn't exactly one of those recycled coaching stories. The 43-year-old is a longtime assistant at different levels but has never been a head coach in the pros until now. So far, he has the Penguins in a playoff position (based on points percentage), and they're also one of the best road teams in the league (8-3-4).
Despite Linus Ullmark leaving practice early on Wednesday, head coach Travis Green said on Thursday that he will start in goal. Arturs Silovs will go for the Penguins.
Thomas Chabot, who has missed 11 games because of an upper-body injury, finally got in a full practice on Wednesday but he's not ready to return just yet. Shane Pinto skated on Wednesday. He's been out for the past two weeks since taking an awkward hit from New York Rangers centre Mika Zibanejad. There's no official word when he'll return.
Evgeni Malkin is the big injury for the Penguins (upper body). At 39, Malkin is still rolling with 29 points in 26 games, but won't play on Thursday.
Erik Karlsson returns to the city where he broke into the NHL. He's off to a flying start with 25 points in 32 games, good for 10th among NHL defenseman, one point behind Ottawa's Jake Sanderson. Tim Stutzle has 33 points for the Sens, including nine in his past four games.
Senators projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk - Tim Stutzle - Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron - Dylan Cozens - Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio - Ridly Greig - Claude Giroux
Kurtis MacDermid - Stephen Halliday - Nick Cousins
Jake Sanderson - Artem Zub
Tyler Kleven - Jordan Spence
Nikolas Matinpalo - Nick Jensen
Linus Ullmark
Leevi Merilainen
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Olle Lycksell
Injured: Thomas Chabot (upper body), Shane Pinto (lower body), Lars Eller (broken foot)
Penguins projected lineup
Rickard Rakell - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha - Tommy Novak - Justin Brazeau
Kevin Hayes - Ben Kindel - Rutger McGroarty
Danton Heinen - Connor Dewar - Noel Acciari
Parker Wotherspoon - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea - Kris Letang
Brett Kulak - Jack St. Ivany
Arturs Silovs
Stuart Skinner
Injured: Evgeni Malkin (upper body), Caleb Jones (lower body), Filip Hallander (blood clot), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed)
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News - Ottawa