Game Day Notes: Sens @ Devils

The Sens close out their 4-game road trip tonight against the Devils and we've got the latest on tonight's line-up, starting goalie and more before the puck drops at 7 p.m. in New Jersey.

Tkachuk heating up

With 5 points (1G, 4A) in his last 3 games, Brady Tkachuk continues to develop in his first NHL season. The 19-year-old has experienced his fair share of hot and cold streaks in his rookie year with the Senators but the team's current road trip seems to have sparked something offensively in Tkachuk.
"It's been a great road trip," said Tkachuk who topped the 30 point mark earlier this week. "The team has been playing pretty good but we still have to fix a couple of things."
The Sens are coming off a wild 8-7 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night and while they have some corrections to make on the defensive side, the offence was clicking and Tkachuk posted a career-best 3 assists in defeat. Shifting focus to the Devils, he's well aware that they need to be better right off the hop.
"We didn't really like our first period at all last game so we have to figure that out," he said. "We're capable of doing it though so it should be a good game."

Line-up Notes

With no morning skate and a few players' availabilities up in the air, Sens head caoch Guy Boucher met with the media today and passed along a few updates on his line-up for tonight but expects to finalize his game roster after warm-up.
"We have to wait and see because we have a few uncertaintees," said Boucher. "We still have to see about Bobby and we have a little issue on defence. We have to see if that's ok so we brought up some guys for flexibility."
Bobby Ryan was absent from yesterday's practice with an illness while Ben Harpur could be the defenceman in question after briefly leaving the skate but Boucher wasn't able to confirm his status for tonight. With questions lingering, the Sens have recalled Darren Archibald and Filip Chlapik from Belleville this morning and depending on which players are available tonight, he shared that he could go with 11 & 7 or 12 & 6 against the Devils. As for their chances at playing in New Jersey, it's still very much up in the air.
"We might have one of those guys play, we might have two of those guys play or we might have none of those guys play," said the coach about Archibald and Chlapik. "That's where it's at."

Boucher also spoke about injured defenceman Mark Borowiecki who remained in Ottawa for the duration of the team's road trip after taking a Christian Jaros shot off his foot on February 14th. The coach remains hopeful that Borowiecki will be able to suit up this weekend against either Columbus or Calgary.
"When you miss those guys, you really feel it," Boucher said. "It's not just a presence, it's not just the leadership...he's a vet. Vets prevent you from second and third mistakes after the first mistake."

In Goal

Following his worst start with the Senators on Monday, Anders Nilsson (10-14-1) is right back in the crease tonight against the Devils. Nilsson allowed 4 goals on 12 shots in the first period against the Blackhawks but Boucher shared that tonight's start in New Jersey was always planned for Nilsson and he doesn't want him to dwell on one lackluster game.
"I want him to get back in right away," Boucher said following yesterday's practice. "I don't want him to stay on that performance that's why I want him in the net against the Devils."

Where to Watch

It's a 7 p.m. start time in New Jersey tonight so why not grab some friends and check out Hooley's on Elgin where they'll be serving up Molson Canadian Drafts for just $6.50 all game long.