Senators at Golden Knights preview

SENATORS (21-31-10) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (41-17-5)
10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV

The Golden Knights, who lost each game of a home-and-home against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and Tuesday, hold an eight-point lead over the San Jose Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division, and trail the Nashville Predators by two points for the best record in the Western Conference.
The Senators, who have allowed four goals or more in five of their past nine games, will try to end a five-game losing streak (0-4-1). Ottawa, 2-6-1 in its past nine, is 17 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson has six points (four goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.
Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"The reality is that he hasn't played in a long time, so I think right now for him is to keep things simple, bring what he brings and not try to overdo things and build it up as he goes along." -- Senators coach Guy Boucher on the return of forward Alexandre Burrows from a 10-game suspension
"They can create a lot of offense, they have a lot of skill on their back end. Obviously, their top players are real, real good and we have to go and play our game. We have to play the best we can, because these teams are dangerous." --Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant on facing the Senators

Senators projected lineup

Mike Hoffman -- Matt Duchene -- Tom Pyatt
Bobby Ryan -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Mark Stone
Magnus Paajarvi -- Zack Smith -- Ryan Dzingel
Max McCormick -- Jim O'Brien -- Alexandre Burrows
Fredrik Claesson -- Erik Karlsson
Thomas Chabot -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Ben Harpur
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched: Erik Burgdoerfer
Injured: Chris Wideman (leg), Marian Gaborik (undisclosed)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
David Perron -- Erik Haula -- Tomas Tatar
Ryan Carpenter -- Cody Eakin -- Alex Tuch
Tomas Hyka -- Tomas Nosek -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Jon Merrill -- Colin Miller
Marc-Andre Fleury
Maxime Lagace
Scratched:Brad Hunt
Injured: William Carrier (undisclosed), Malcolm Subban (hand), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (hand), James Neal (lower body), Oscar Lindberg (upper body), Luca Sbisa (undisclosed)

Status report

Gaborik has a nagging issue and is being kept out for precautionary reasons, Boucher said. … Burrows returns from a 10-game suspension for serving as an aggressor and kneeing New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall on Feb. 6. … Neal is day to day.

Stat pack

Stone has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in a six-game point streak. … Perron has 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in his past 20 games.