lineup-jan25-NHL

The Sens get some help down the middle tonight against Boston as centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau returns after missing 4 games with an upper body injury.

Pageau was injured in the Sens' final game before their January bye week against the Maple Leafs after being driven hard into the boards and stayed in Ottawa earlier this week to skate with the team on the road for a pair of games.
"I felt really good during the morning skate," shared Pageau. "I'm ready. Mentally I'm ready to come back and I want to help the team."
The Sens are still without a few key players in Mark Stone, Nate Thompson, Johnny Oduya and Filip Chlapik who have all been ruled out for tonight's game. Sens head coach Guy Boucher confirmed that collectively their returns will have to wait until sometime after the bye week.
Boston will also be without a few mainstays as Brad Marchand (suspension) and Charlie McAvoy (out) are both inactive for the Bruins tonight. Boucher, who's squad has battled injuries all season, still expects a tough road game out of their opponent.
"We're missing our important pieces too," said Boucher. "I'm not going to feel sorry for them or for us. We're going to play them the way that we need to and we're going to expect them to be at their best regardless if they're missing players or not."
Here's a look at the lines and defence pairings from today's morning skate:

Projected-Lineup-jan25

In Goal

Mike Condon (3-6-4) gets the nod in net for the Senators tonight. Condon was very good in Monday's loss to Minnesota stopping 33 of the 36 shots he faced in defeat and earned another start prior to the NHL All-Star break as a result.
"I thought he looked very solid," said Boucher on his goaltender's game against the Wild. "With the situation that we're in, I think we can play both goaltenders and I think he deserves to get a game before the break."