Game Day Notes: Sens vs. Bruins

The Sens gets another forward back tonight against the Bruins while they're expected to be without a pair of defencemen when they host the Bruins tonight. Here's everything we know about the Sens' line-up against Boston...

Formenton returns

After missing the past 3 games with a concussion, Alex Formenton has been given the green light to return to game action.
"It was very important to take my time coming back from this injury," said Formenton. "I don't want to take another bump and be out for longer so I really had to trust the recovery process and the training staff here has been great to me during this little hiatus."
Formenton admitted that being on the sidelines for the past 13 days have been difficult but the team stringing together 3 straight wins has made it a bit easier. An accidental benefit of being relegated to the press box due to his injury is that's it's given him a bird's eye view of NHL games, something that he feels can benefit him as a rookie in the league.
"You get to see the ice from a different perspective," he said. "It gives you the chance to watch plays develop and that's something that I think can help me continue to grow as a player. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be on the ice with my teammates but I'm grateful for any opportunity to learn more about the game."

Up Front

While the news on Formenton is positive, a few injuries on the Sens' blueline (more on that below) will result in head coach Guy Boucher utilizing a more traditional 12 forwards / 6 defencemen deployment tonight as opposed to the 11/7 we've seen lately.
Max McCormick, who has been sidelined since training camp but has resumed skating with the team the past few weeks, is nearing a return to action but the coach decided to leave Paul Carey in tonight's line-up since he was looking to add a natural centre into the mix.
"He's right there," said Boucher about McCormick's recovery. "Right now, I need a centre so Carey will be in tonight."
Here's how the forward lines looked at today's skate...
Boedker - Duchene - White
Dzingel - Tierney - Stone
Formenton - Carey - Ryan
Paajarvi - Smith - Pyatt

On Defence

The Sens will be without both Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur tonight as they each deal with different injuries. Ceci has been out of the line-up since October 10th with an upper body injury while Harpur appears to have been injured during Saturday's win over the Canadiens. As a result, Christian Jaros has received his third call-up from Belleville of the season.
"I love his jump and the way he defends," said Boucher about recalling Jaros. "Whenever he makes a mistake he can compensate and get right back into the play because of his speed. He's got some really good tools."
With Ceci and Harpur absent, Ottawa will need to once again rely on their young depth on defence against the Bruins which is a challenge that rookie Max Lajoie is excited for.
"We've got a lot of young guys and we're a young defence corps," said Lajoie. "Boston brings a lot of skill, speed and toughness so it's definitely going to be a good test for us tonight."
Lajoie has turned some heads early this season and has recorded 7 points in his first 7 games which has him tied for second in NHL rookie scoring. While it's been his offence that's impressed, Lajoie feels that his defensive game has come a long way in the past few weeks and he feels that being trusted with big minutes and tough assignments at the NHL level has really ramped up his development.
"Compared to the American League it's a lot faster and guys are a lot stronger out there," Lajoie said. "The players in this league are so good that they're able to make those tough plays more often so it's been really good for me to challenge myself every shift of every game. Earning the trust of the coaches has been a huge confidence boost for me too."
And here's a look at the projected defence pairings against Boston...
Chabot - DeMelo
Borowiecki - Wideman
Lajoie - Jaros

In Goal

He's won 4 of his last 5 starts so it's no surprise that Craig Anderson will get the nod in net tonight against the Bruins. Anderson is currently in the midst of a 3-game winning streak which has seen him stop 97 of the last 102 shots he's faced to up his save percentage on the season to a steady .920%.
"We just have to worry about how we're playing," said Anderson about hosting the Bruins. "They're a good team and they're going to make it tough for us so we're going to make sure that we control what we can control."

Where to Watch

It's a 7:30 p.m. game time tonight at Canadian Tire Centre and there are still
some seats available
so grab some now and join us for puck drop.
Aren't able to make it to the rink? Then head out and catch tonight's game at Jonny Canuck's where it'll be 25% off Molson Canadian all evening long.