Panthers at Senators preview

PANTHERS (20-14-5) at SENATORS (16-19-5)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, FS-F, NHL.TV

The forward was recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. He has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in 19 AHL games this season.
Goalie Craig Anderson will start for Ottawa, which is 5-3-4 in its past 12 games.
The Panthers are 5-2-0 in their past seven games after going 2-4-0 in their previous six.

Players to watch

Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau was named NHL First Star for December after he had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 13 games, including 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past seven.
Senators forward Anthony Duclair has 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in his past 13 games.

They said it

"Let's bring some energy, let's be respectful of [the Senators]; they play extremely well at home. Let's get back and try to get our momentum going that we had with a nice little run, and let's recapture it." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville
"He went down there and did a real nice job. He certainly gets a lot of points in the American Hockey League. Now he has to prove it up top, that he can be an offensive threat. But in saying that, he's going to have to work, track, do all the things away from the puck that allow you to stay in the League." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on Rudolfs Balcers

Panthers projected lineup

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov
Brett Connolly -- Vincent Trocheck -- Noel Acciari
Frank Vatrano -- Brian Boyle -- Mike Hoffman
Colton Sceviour -- Dominic Toninato -- Mark Pysyk
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Riley Stillman -- Anton Stralman
Mike Matheson -- Josh Brown
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Scratched:Denis Malgin, Jayce Hawryluk
Injured:MacKenzie Weegar (upper body)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Chris Tierney -- Anthony Duclair
Nicholas Paul -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Connor Brown
Rudolfs Balcers -- Colin White -- Tyler Ennis
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Artem Anisimov -- Scott Sabourin
Thomas Chabot -- Cody Goloubef
Mark Borowiecki -- Christian Jaros
Andreas Englund -- Erik Brannstrom
Craig Anderson
Marcus Hogberg
Scratched:Mikkel Boedker
Injured:Dylan DeMelo (finger), Nikita Zaitsev (undisclosed), Anders Nilsson (concussion), Ron Hainsey (undisclosed)

Status report

The Panthers did not hold a morning skate. … Zaitsev was set to return but did not take the morning skate and will not play. Smith said the defenseman was sore after practice Wednesday but did not have a setback.

Stat pack

Barkov has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games. … The Senators are 9-1-2 in their past 12 home games.