Game Day Notes: Sens @ Avalanche

Details on Matt Duchene's first visit to Colorado as a member of the Senators, notes and quotes on the Sens' projected line-up and more ahead of tonight's 9 p.m. start in Denver.

Duchene back in Colorado

The beginning of the 2017-18 season was a whirlwind for Matt Duchene. Months of speculation about a possible trade from the Colorado Avalanche eventually resulted in the star centre being dealt to the Senators on November 5th, 2017. While he welcomed the deal and has had some success in Ottawa, he's now ready to head back to Denver for the first time as a member of the opposition.
"It's a lot of emotions obviously," said Duchene. "It's going to be really weird to walk into that rink. The only time I've ever been in the visitor's locker room was when we did our blood tests in training camp so it's definitely going to be an interesting experience."
Duchene, who skated in 586 games for the Avalanche to start his career, isn't sure what kind of welcome he'll receive at tonight's game but is ready for it either way.
"I had a good relationship with all the fans there and I realy appreciated their support over the years," Duchene said about the fans in Colorado. "I've been back to Denver a few times and people have been great to me. I'm sure there will be the odd one here or there but even if the whole place does it I know I gave everything I had when I was there and I think people know that."

Up Front

Sens head coach Guy Boucher met with the media today in Denver and shared that Max McCormick has been given the greenlight and will make his season debut tonight against the Avalanche.
"He gives us hard work and drive and he's a real honest player," said Boucher about McCormick's return. "His intangibles are really good for us and we'll need that on the road so it's a good thing that we're going to get that enthusiasm, drive and speed back in our line-up."
McCormick's return means the coach will once again revert back to the traditional 12 forward / 6 defenceman deployment tonight. Here's a look at the projected forward lines versus Colorado...
Boedker - Duchene - White
Dzingel - Tierney - Stone
Formenton - Smith - Ryan
McCormick - Pyatt - Paajarvi

On Defence

In addition to McCormick, the Sens will also be getting Cody Ceci back this evening. Ceci has been out of the line-up since Oct. 10th with an upper body injury but had been nearing a return before finally getting the all clear from the medical staff. These past two weeks have been one of the longer absences for the 24-year-old who has been pretty durable during his first 5 NHL seasons.
"I played all of them last year," Ceci said after today's skate. "It's always unfortunate when you're out of the line-up but the training staff got me back nice and quick and that break we had helped me out a bit too."
The Sens will be without Mark Borowiecki tonight as the defenceman serves his one game suspension following an incident on Tuesday against Boston. As a result, Christian Wolanin has ben recalled from Belleville but will act as the healthy scratch against the Avs. Here's a look at the projected defence pairings:
Chabot - DeMelo
Lajoie - Ceci
Wideman - Jaros

In Goal

Craig Anderson (4-2-1) gets the nod in net tonight for the Senators and looks to bounce back from a 4-1 decision to the Bruins on Tuesday that snapped his 3-game winning streak. Anderson played parts of two seasons with the Avalanche between 2009-11 before being dealt to Ottawa and eventually becoming the franchise's leader in goalie games played (358), wins (178) and saves (10,252) so pretty good trade overall for the Sens.

Where to Watch

It's a 9 p.m. start time in Denver tonight and if you're in need of a spot to catch the game, then look no further. Be sure to hit up the Kelsey's in Kanata because they'll be serving up 23oz Kicked Up Molson Canadian Draft for just $8.18 + tax during the game.
You can also catch all the action live on TSN5 and RDS2 along with on the radio with Dean Brown and Gord Wilson on TSN 1200.