Senators at Golden Knights preview

Stone, a sixth-round pick (No. 178) by Ottawa in the 2010 NHL Draft, played his first 366 NHL games with the Senators. He was traded to the Golden Knights on Feb. 25 for defenseman Erik Brannstrom, forward Oscar Lindberg and a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Vegas signed Stone to an eight-year, $76 million contract (average annual value $9.5 million) March 8. 

The Golden Knights have lost three of their past five games after winning their first two.

Ottawa will try to avoid losing for the fifth time in six games to begin the season. Brannstrom, chosen by the Golden Knights with the No. 15 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, will face them for the first time.

Players to watch

Senators forward Vladislav Namestnikov has four points (two goals, two assists) in three games after he was traded to Ottawa by the New York Rangers on Oct. 7.

Golden Knights forward Mark Stone leads them with 10 points (five goals, five assists). He is one assist from 200 in the NHL. 

They said it

"I'm starting to get more comfortable. I think my last two games were my better ones, so I'm going to try and build off that." -- Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom, who has one assist through five games

"It's going to be different. I'm excited. I've never gone through this. It's the first time I'll ever play an old team, and it's going to be fun. Our team needs to get back on the right track and, for me personally, there's no better way to do it than hopefully beat my old team." -- Golden Knights forward Mark Stone

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Colin White -- Anthony Duclair

Tyler Ennis -- Chris Tierney -- Bobby Ryan

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Connor Brown

Nick Paul -- Jordan Szwarz -- Scott Sabourin

Thomas Chabot -- Nikita Zaitsev

Erik Brannstrom -- Ron Hainsey

Mark Borowiecki -- Dylan DeMelo

Anders Nilsson

Craig Anderson

Scratched: Mikkel Boedker

Injured: Artem Anisimov (lower body)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone

Brandon Pirri -- Cody Eakin -- Cody Glass

William Carrier -- Tomas Nosek -- Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill -- Nick Holden

Nicolas Hague -- Deryk Engelland

Marc-Andre Fleury

Oscar Dansk

Scratched: Jake Bischoff

Injured: Nate Schmidt (lower body), Alex Tuch (upper body), Zach Whitecloud(upper body), Malcolm Subban (lower body)

Suspended: Valentin Zykov

Status report

Paul will make his season debut after being recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Anisimov will miss his second consecutive game. ... Zykov was suspended 20 games for violating the NHL's Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Pirri will take his place in the lineup. 

Stat pack

White is playing his 100th game in the NHL. … Stastny has six points (three goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak.