We've got 5 key game things for you to check out before the puck drops tonight against the Wild.

1. Top 6 cooking in 2018

While the Sens have started the new year with a record of 3-3-1, it's not for lack of the top two lines clicking. Over the first 7 games of 2018 the trios of Mike Hoffman, Matt Duchene, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Dzingel, Derick Brassard and Mark Stone have combined for 38 points with Stone's 10 (3G, 7A) leading the way.
That works out to just under a point/game (0.93) for all 6 forwards since flipping the calendar. Ottawa's top offensive lines had struggled for long stretches this season as Sens head coach Guy Boucher looked to find some chemistry so it is reassuring to know that the Sens may have found some answers up front as they attempt to defy the odds and push themselves back into the post-season hunt for the second half of the season.
Here's a quick break down of the Sens' scoring leaders so far in 2018:

2. Total recalls

The Sens set off to Minnesota yesterday but did so with a group that wasn't at 100%.
"We've got quite a few guys that are banged up," said Boucher following Saturday's game. "Oduya is among them but we've got quite few other guys."
As a result, Chris DiDomenico and Erik Burgdoerfer have been recalled from Belleville and have joined the Sens on their 2-game road trip.
DiDomenico has appeared in 13 games for the Senators this season recording 6 points (3G, 3A) before making the round trip to Tampa Bay via waivers back in December while this marks Burgdoerfer's first recall to Ottawa after recording 10 points (3G, 7A) in 43 games in Belleville this season.

3. Back-to-backs

Since we're on the cusp of yet another pair of consecutive games tonight and with the Senators having the most sets of back-to-backs in the NHL this year (tied with Pittsburgh at 19), I thought I'd take a quick dive into the Sens' results to date.
So far, the Senators have played just under half of their scheduled back-to-backs this year and have compiled a record of 10-6-2 in those 18 games. That surprised me a little since the team currently holds a record of 15-20-9 which means that 66% of their wins this season have come in part of back-to-back games.
A little more surprising is that their record in the second games of those back-to-backs is actually slightly better at 5-2-2 compared to 5-4-0 in the first half of those sets. Their goal differential is also exactly even having scored 63 goals and given up 63 goals in their first 9 back-to-back sets this season.

4. Previous meeting

These teams last met back on December 19th, 2017 where the WIld scored 5 unanswered goals to rally back from a 3-1 second period deficit to hand the Sens a 6-4 loss at Canadian Tire Centre. The Senators had multi-point nights from Karlsson (2G, 0A), Brassard (1G, 1A), Stone (0G, 2A) and Hoffman (0G, 2A) in defeat,
Full highlights from that game below...

5. Where to watch

It's a rare 8 p.m. start time tonight for the Sens and you can catch all the action on TSN5 and RDS along with Dean Brown and Gord Wilson with the call on the radio on TSN 1200.