Game Day Notes: Sens vs. Panthers

Christian Jaros checks back into the line-up, a quick injury update on Ben Harpur, details on our Furry Fans Night and more before puck drop against the Florida Panthers tonight.

Projected line-up

As mentioned above, one small change on defence from Saturday's win against the Penguins and that's Jaros drawing back into action tonight against the Panthers.
"We're playing against a big opponent that have some big offensive players," said head coach Guy Boucher about the swap. "They've got some big bodies that are hard to handle and we want to make sure that we put the guys that we think are going to handle that well out there. Jaros is one of those guys."
In addition to his physical presence, Boucher also noted that Jaros tested as the team's second fastest player in training camp and that his unique skill set is something that the Sens could use tonight against Florida.
"He brings that size, intensity, physicality and major speed," Boucher continued. "I don't think many people reaize that after Formenton he was the fastest of our entire group. We need that...we absolutely need that."

With Jaros returning to active duty, Chris Wideman will join Max McCormick as the Sens' healthy scratches this evening. Here's a look at the projected forward lines and defence pairings:
Boedker - Duchene - Batherson
Tkachuk - White - Stone
Dzingel - Tierney - Ryan
Paajarvi - Smith - Pyatt
Chabot - DeMelo
Lajoie - Ceci
Borowiecki - Jaros

In goal

Craig Anderson (9-5-3) is expected to make his 9th start of the month tonight and his 18th appearance of the season for the Senators through just 20 games. Anderson has been a rock for the Sens in net and isn't concerned about his increased workload to start the year.
"The schedule has been light so far," said Anderson. "October was real light, November has been here and there but it's been fairly light with only a few back-to-backs. As the breaks come along. like Christmas break, All-Star break or the Bye Week, a lot more games are going to start getting scrunched in there. We can't get too far ahead of ourselves and we have to worry about being fresh for tonight but I'm sure the coaches are planning ahead at how to manage the season."

Harpur practicing

One piece of injury update news to share today is that Ben Harpur participated in today's skate as a full participant for the first time. Harpur has been sidelined for nearly a month with a back injury with no timeline set for a return but his appearance at practice seems to indicate things are moving in the right direction.
"It's tough when you're injured and you're not traveling or skating with the team," said Harpur this morning. "You start to feel isolated so it's nice to be on the ice with the team and feel like you're part of the group again."
After missing the start of the regular season, Harpur has appeared in just 3 games this year. It's not exactly known when he suffered his current injury but he did mention that he tried to play through it before shutting it down to fully recover.
"Once I got hurt, I didn't take the time to let it heal properly," said Harpur. "I tried to play through it and that probably set me back a bit. I had to take a step back and figure out what was best in the long-term. I probably could have beared down and played in a few games but it would have caught up to me down the road so it's important for me to some time off and let it heal properly."

Furry Fans

It's our second Furry Fans Night of the season! The Sens have partnered with local animal rescue organizations, who will be on site tonight (as well as four other games this year) to help promote pet adoption awareness and to celebrate a fun and unique game experience.
And keep your eyes peeled at the rink tonight as a few of the player's pups will be in attendance and are ready to receive chin scratches and belly rubs before the game.

Where to watch

It's a 7:30 p.m. start at Canadian Tire Centre so
grab some tickets
and we'll see you at the rink.
Can't make it to the game? Grab some people and head over to Oliver's Pub on campus at Carleton University where they'll be serving up $4.25 cans of Molson Canadian during tonight's game.