The lone change up front will be Bobby Ryan who left Tuesday's game with yet another hand injury. Ryan has been plagued by hand and finger issues over the past few season and has missed games on two occasions this year in order to deal with the re-occuring problem.
"It's just incredibly bad luck," said Ryan after returning from a minor finger issue at the end of December. "Three of them were blocked shots, three of them were just whacks...it's just the way it goes sometimes."
As a result of Ryan's absence, Sens head coach Guy Boucher said to the media that Colin White will likely play the right side with Matt Duchene and Mike Hoffman. White, who is very much a two-way forward, shared that he plans to keep his game simple given his first extended look at a top 6 role this season.
"You just have to have fun with it on the ice and for me it's just about playing my game," said White. "I can't do anything too crazy out there because when I'm playing simple, I'm usually playing at my best."
The Sens have also recalled Filip Chlapik from Belleville. Chlapik has appeared in 6 games for the Senators this season and is expected to fill Nate Thompson's spot on the 4th line tonight against the Maple Leafs.
"I've mostly played fourth line in all of the games that I've played here and I just tried to go out and show my best," Chlapik said. "I didn't really care that I was on the fourth line or that I have to be on the checking line. When I get pucks I just tried to be confident and show the people here what I can do."
No changes are expected to the Senators' blueline tonight which means that Mark Borowiecki's return to the line-up will occur sometime after the team's upcoming 7-day break.
"We're not going to take a chance with Boro," said Boucher. "We're going to give him the break just to make sure."
With that, here's a look at the Sens projected line-up tonight against the Maple Leafs...
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