When David Perron was answering questions from the media as he was getting ready to play his 1200th NHL game at the beginning of December, he glanced over to his left. “When you think you’ve played a lot, you look over at this guy, he’s played close to 1,300 now,” said Perron with a smile.
Referring of course, to his teammate Claude Giroux, who just over three weeks later will cross that milestone of his ever-expanding resume on Saturday night as the Senators resume their season after a quick holiday break.
“It’s obviously special, but at the end of the day, coming off Christmas, we’re looking for a win,” said Giroux after morning skate. “It’s nice to be able to play 1,300 with these guys here, so hopefully a win will follow that.”
Though 1,300 games is just one of many milestones the oldest Senator has reached since being drafted late in the first round in 2006, another late first-round pick will reach one of his most memorable on Saturday, as Xavier Bourgault (selected 21st overall in 2021) will play his first NHL game.
The Senators recalled the forward — who ranks tied for 10th in the AHL in scoring with 27 points — from Belleville on Saturday morning. “Just grateful for the chance tonight,” said Bourgault after morning skate. “It wasn’t easy since going pro, so just exciting for me now. It’s been a long road for me.”
The celebrations will take a backseat, of course, to the ice, where the Senators and Leafs will battle for the first time since their spirited six-game playoff series last spring, where Toronto came out victorious.
This season, it’s been a different story, as the Leafs have lost five of their last seven games and sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division as play resumes from the holiday break.
The Senators have picked up points in five straight games and are coming off an overtime loss to the Sabres which ended a four-game winning streak.
“I think we played an average game against Buffalo, didn’t play our best, so we probably didn’t deserve to win,” said Tim Stützle, who continued an eight-game point streak with a goal in the loss.
“We just want to get right back at it. It was a good time — Christmas was a good time — but at the end of the day, [we want to] get right back at it tonight and it was good that we skated this morning,” added the Senators’ leading scorer.
“Of course, Saturday night in Toronto is always a big game and we know that.”
