The Ottawa Senators are finally back at home, and on Saturday night they’ll welcome the Utah Mammoth to town for the first meeting between the two teams this season.
The game also serves as the first meeting in the NHL this season between two teams with 10 or more wins.
“Not just speed, they’ve got a lot of skill in their lineup. You look at the last three teams we've played with Buffalo, Anaheim, and San Jose — if you had to say anything about all those teams, it'd probably be speed and skill,” said Travis Green after an optional morning skate at Canadian Tire Centre.
“And another team that's been built, you know, they're kind of growing into their time, got a very good team. They're one of the teams that you talk about that could be a threat in the West, and we're going to have to be on top of our game if we want to win.”
Shane Pinto wasn’t aware that Saturday’s game would serve as the 300th of his career, but called it a “cool accomplishment” when he was told after morning skate.
“Five or six years, a couple ups and downs, obviously, but yeah, it’s been great to play for the Sens for all those six years,” said Pinto.
“You could ask any of the guys, they probably never would have thought they’d have played in the NHL for even just 10 games. So just to get to that accomplishment is obviously really cool, and a lot of credit goes to my family and the people who supported me, it’s obviously not a one man show.”
Ottawa will turn to Sam Ersson in goal once again, confirmed Green, with Linus Ullmark back practicing with the team but still working towards a full recovery from a lower-body injury.
