Game Day Notes: Sens @ Blues

The Sens wrap up their road trip tonight in St. Louis and we've got all the details on the projected line-up against the Blues, a familiar face back between the pipes and more.

Dad's trip rolls on

The Sens have some special travel companions this weekend as the player's fathers have joined them on their 2-game road trip through Carolina and St. Louis. The dads will once again be in attendance tonight after watching their sons earn a solid 4-1 victory over the Hurricanes but it sounds like Brady Tkachuk's dad Keith, who played 9 seasons with the Blues and lives in St. Louis, has become today's travel planner for his fellow patriarchs.
"I think his dad has something planned for all the dads which is something all the guys on the team really appreciate," said Mark Stone who housed Brady for the start of his rookie season in Ottawa this year. "Sounds like they're going to have a pretty fun day before the game."
Stone, a native of Winnipeg, has become very familiar with the Tkachuks and recalls watching Keith skate for his hometown Jets in the early 90's.
"My parents used to have tickets to the Jets' games when he was just a 19-year-old playing for the Jets," recalled Stone about the elder Tkachuk. "I saw him a lot since I watched hockey every single day when I was growing up and now I see a lot of the same qualities that he had in Brady."

Projected Line-up

Sens head coach Guy Boucher met with the media earlier today in St. Louis and we've got a few changes to pass along before puck drop. For starters Mark Borowiecki, who left last night's game with a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day, has been ruled out for tonight's contest which paves the way for the return of Ben Harpur who has missed the last 4 games with an upper body injury.
The coach also confirmed that he'll go back to using the more traditional 12 forwards and 6 defencemen deployment tonight which means that Nick Paul will re-enter the line-up for the first time in a week. Boucher mentioned that he'll likely switch up some of his lines with the addition of Paul back into the fold and while he wouldn't speculate on exactly what he had in mind, he did share that Paul will likely centre a pair of veterans against the Blues. With Paul back in, Max Lajoie is expected to be the extra skater.

Here's how the forward lines and defence pairings could like tonight:
Dzingel - Duchene - Ryan
Tkachuk - Tieney - Stone
Boedker - Pageau - Balcers
Smith - Paul - Paarjarvi
Chabot - DeMelo
Harpur - Ceci
Wolanin - Jaros

In Goal

He returned to back-up Anders Nilsson last night and now Craig Anderson (14-13-3) has been given the green light and will start in goal tonight against the Blues. Anderson has been sidelined with a concussion for nearly a month but had been making steady progress in his recovery over the past few weeks before joining the Sens on their current road trip.
"He's made us win a lot of games this year," said Boucher about the return of Anderson. "He's probably chomping at the bit right now. I was waiting for the ok and I just got it so I'm happy about that. We've got two NHL goaltenders and that makes our team better."

Where to Watch

Need a spot to catch the game tonight? Round up a crew and head on over to Buster's Bar on Carling Ave. where you can catch all the action plus score Molson Canadian drafts for just $5.75 all evening long.