Panthers at Senators preview

PANTHERS (33-32-12) at SENATORS (27-43-6)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, FS-F, NHL.TV

The 22-year-old signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers on March 19, after finishing his second season with the University of Maine. Keeper had 44 points (13 goals, 31 assists) in 73 games in the NCAA. He is the first person from the Pimicikamak Cree Nation to make it to the NHL.
The Panthers and Senators each have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
Ottawa will try to win three straight games for the first time since Nov. 27-Dec. 1.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in his past 11 games.
Senators forward Anthony Duclair has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past six games.

They said it

"He's the pride of his community. I think [he] probably has a sense of responsibility, which is great. I think that there's going to be a lot of people watching tonight. [It's] a dream come true for a kid that's made it up probably against a lot of odds." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner on Keeper
"They've got a lot of really good, offensively dynamic weapons. If you look on the point, I love the skating ability of [Mike] Matheson, and [Keith] Yandle, of course, is one of the premier offensive defensemen in the league, so they've got lots of weapons." -- Senators coach Marc Crawford on the Panthers

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mike Hoffman -- Vincent Trocheck -- Jayce Hawryluk
Frank Vatrano -- Riley Sheahan -- Denis Malgin
Jamie McGinn -- Henrik Borgstrom -- Troy Brouwer
Mike Matheson -- Aaron Ekblad
Keith Yandle -- MacKenzie Weegar
Ian McCoschen
-- Brady Keeper
James Reimer
Sam Montembeault
Scratched: Dryden Hunt, Colton Sceviour, Mark Pysyk, Roberto Luongo, Josh Brown
Injured:Derek MacKenzie (shoulder)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Max Veronneau
Anthony Duclair -- Chris Tierney -- Mikkel Boedker
Rudolfs Balcers -- Colin White -- Bobby Ryan
Brian Gibbons -- Oscar Lindberg -- Magnus Paajarvi
Thomas Chabot -- Dylan DeMelo
Christian Wolanin -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Christian Jaros
Anders Nilsson
Craig Anderson
Scratched: Ben Harpur
Injured:Zack Smith (back)

Status report

Boughner said the lineup will be a game-time decision. … Anderson will start against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Stat pack

Barkov is six points behind Pavel Bure for the Panthers single-season record of 94 set in 1999-2000. … The Senators are 4-2-0 in their past six games after winning one of their previous 12 (1-10-1).