Devils at Senators preview

DEVILS (5-1-0) at SENATORS (3-1-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Ottawa Senators are looking for their first win at home (0-1-2). They lost 3-0 to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, their first regulation loss of the season.

Players to watch

Devils defenseman Will Butcher is the first rookie defenseman in NHL history to record at least nine assists in his first six career games, and third in League history to have nine points in his first six games. Harry Cameron had 15 points (nine goals, six assists) with the Toronto Arenas in 1917-18 and Phil Housley had nine points (two goals, seven assists) with the Buffalo Sabres in 1982-83.
Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson will play his second game since returning from surgery on his left foot to repair torn tendons June 14. Karlsson had no points and was minus-2 in 22:25 against the Canucks.

They said it

"We're winning so I'm looking forward to wins, not my first goal. I just try each night to help the team as much as I can. It's going to happen." -- Devils forward Nico Hischier
"I'm just going to need some time here to get back into the swing of things. It's only going to get better from here." -- Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson

Devils projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Drew Stafford
Marcus Johansson -- Adam Henrique -- Kyle Palmieri
Jesper Bratt -- Pavel Zacha -- Brian Gibbons
Miles Wood -- Blake Coleman -- Stefan Noesen
Andy Greene -- Damon Severson
John Moore -- Steven Santini
Will Butcher -- Dalton Prout
Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid
Scratched: Mirco Mueller, Ben Lovejoy, Jimmy Hayes
Injured: Travis Zajac (torn pectoral muscle), Brian Boyle (leukemia), Michael McLeod (knee)

Senators projected lineup

Zack Smith -- Kyle Turris -- Ryan Dzingel
Bobby Ryan -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Tom Pyatt
Nate Thompson -- Logan Brown -- Alexandre Burrows
Johnny Oduya -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Fredrik Claesson -- Chris Wideman
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched: None
Injured: Colin White (left wrist), Ben Harpur (shoulder), Mark Borowiecki (upper body)

Status report

Phaneuf did not take part in the morning skate but will play. … Borowiecki, who was injured Tuesday against the Canucks, is day-to-day.

Stat pack

Schneider is 6-3-1 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .942 save percentage in his career against the Senators. … Gibbons has three goals in six games for the Devils this season; He had five goals in a combined 66 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets during the previous two seasons.