Game Day Notes: Sens vs. Hurricanes

It's the return of Jean-Gabriel Pageau this afternoon and we've got all the details on the Sens projected line-up, starting goalie and more before today's matinee against the Hurricanes.

Pageau Returns

After a crushing achilles injury on the first day if training camp, Jean-Gabriel Pageau is set to make his long-awaited season debut this afternoon against Carolina.
"I've been waiting for this first game," said Pageau. "I thought it was going to be the first game of the season unforetunately it's going to be half way through but I'm excited."
Pageau was expected to be sidelined for up to six months but his recovery has been nothing short of incredible. The 26-year-old centre was quick to thank all those involved with getting him back on the ice so quickly.
"I'm so grateful to our medical staff, surgeons, doctors, strength coach and all the support I got back home from my wife, my family, my friends and of course the fans," he said. "It helped me a lot to go through this process and I'm grateful. It's because of them that I'm able to retutn on Sunday."

Projected Line-up

With the fantastic news of Pageau's return out of the way, the rest of the line-up sees a bit of a trickle down effect with #44 set to play his first game of the season. For starters, the Sens will revert back to the traditional 12 forwards / 6 defencemen deployment. Sens head coach Guy Boucher met with the media this morning but wasn't able to confirm which defender would be coming out of the line-up just yet so you'll have to wait until closer to puck drop to see what today's defence corps will look like.
Up front, Zack Smith is expected to shift back over to the wing to make room for Pageau down the middle. The two actually skated on a line together with Mikkel Boedker at practice the other day so it's possible that Smith could help ease Pageau's transition back into the line-up.
Rudolfs Balcers, who made his NHL debut yesterday, will once again be active today as Nicholas Paul is expected to be the lone scratch among the forwards.
Here's a look at the Sens' projected forward lines for today:
Tkachuk - White - Stone
Dzingel - Duchene - Ryan
Smith - Pageau - Boedker
Balcers - Tierney - Paajarvi

In Goal

Marcus Hogberg (0-2-1) gets another chance to record his first career NHL win today as he's confirmed to start in goal against the Hurricanes. Hogberg was outstanding on Wednesday against the Canucks where he turned aside 41 of the 45 shots he faced in an overtime loss to Vancouver.

Where to Watch

It's another 1 p.m. start time at Canadian Tire Centre today and there are still some tickets available
here
. Can't make it to CTC? Then grab a crew and head to Sens House where they'll be serving up tall cans of Molson Canadian for just $6 or a bucket of 3 for $17.50.
Click here
to make a reservation.