Game Day Notes: Sens vs. Red Wings

Lots of good stuff in today's pre-game notes including some thoughts from Drake Batherson ahead of his NHL debut, Zack Smith talks wearing a cage, Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night details and more before the Sens host the Red Wings tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Batherson's Debut

For the third time this season the Sens will have a player making their NHL debut as Batherson gets ready for his first game on the biggest stage tonight. Batherson has been on fire to start the season in Belleville and he credits a big part of his success to staying patient in regards to a potential call-up.
"You never know when you're going to get the call," he said. "It might take 3 months or it might be because of a rash on injuries so luckily I've been doing well in the AHL and I'm excited to be given this opportunity."
Batherson has played in some big games before, notably for Team Canada's gold medal winning squad at the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championship last year in Buffalo, and he hopes to draw on those experiences ahead of tonight's game.
"They'll be some nerves there I'm sure," said Batherson. "For starters, it's a lot bigger of a building than I'm used to playing in the AHL. I think it will be a lot like the World Juniors with the atmosphere and the fans being loud. My whole family is going to be here too so it's going to be really cool to have them all here for my first game."
If making his NHL dedut wasn't enough, Batherson is also set to flank Matt Duchene on one of the Sens top lines tonight against the Red Wings. Batherson is 7 years younger than Duchene but recalls memories of watching him play as a kid and describes the chance to play alongside him as "surreal".
"I've been watching Duchene play since I was 12-years-old," Batherson shared. "I was telling him the other day that when I was a kid I used to watch this commercial he did when he was maybe 20 so to go from that to skating on his line in the NHL is pretty cool. Having the opportunity to play with him tonight in my first NHL game is going to be awesome."

Hockey Fights Cancer

Tonight's game is also the Sens' annual Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night in support of Canadian Cancer Society. The Senators have had many public battles with cancer in recent years and Sens head coach Guy Boucher stated yesterday that this cause is easy to get behind because unfortunately everyone has some tie to this terrible disease.
"Everybody is connected in some way or another to somebody that has or has had cancer." he said. "My father passed away from cancer when I was 17 so I can't be more directly touched by it and my mom has fought through two cancers and overcame it."

Sens goaltender Craig Anderson, who missed large chunks of the 2016-17 season to be with his wife Nicholle during her battle with a rare form of throat cancer called nasopharyngeal carcinoma, spoke about his family's experience dealing with the disease.
"It changes your perspective on things," said Anderson. "It changes how you react to things and it makes life very precious."
Fans can support this initiative by:

Up Front

Along with the addition of Batherson, the Sens will also be getting a pair of centres back tonight as both Colin White and Zack Smith have been cleared to play. White left Sunday's game in Sunrise with an injury but was able to practice this week and has been given the green light to play against the Red Wings while Smith, who has been absent for the past 9 games after suffering a facial fracture in Colorado last month, also rejoins the active line-up but will wear a cage for some added protection.
"It's been a little over a week now so I'm getting used to it," Smith said aout wearing a cage this morning. "Other than that I feel great. My face isn't an issue out there and I feel comfortable and protected."
Smith is one of the rare players in the NHL that doesn't wear a visor so adding the massive cage has been an adjustment. While he continues to deal with some obstructed sightlines, I asked if there were any potential benefits that full facial protection might offer his game.
"We'll see I guess," he said with a smile. "For what I've noticed, some guys who wear cages seem to grow 6 inches and become a little tougher. It's got it's drawbacks but I guess it can have it's benefits too. You're more protected around the net and you don't have to worry about our defencemen shooting high when you've got the full cage on."
Some other small pieces of business to relay before puck drop is that Max McCormick will be the healthy scratch up front tonight and following Sunday's game Nick Paul was returned to Belleville.
Here's a look at tonight's projected forward lines:
Boedker - Duchene - Batherson
Tkachuk - White - Stone
Dzingel - Tierney - Ryan
Paajarvi - Smith - Pyatt

On Defence

Only one change is expected on the blueline tonight and that's Christian Jaros acting as the extra defenceman and getting a break tonight. Boucher shared that Jaros had been playing with an illness recently and that a brief hiatus should do the young defender some good.
Speaking of youth on the backend, Thomas Chabot is in the midst of a season-high scoring drought of just two games as he looks to get back on the scoresheet tonight against Detroit. Chabot has points in all but 4 of the Sens' 18 games this season and believes that a "defence first" strategy has helped his offensive game blossom.
"Whenever you try to force things offensively, that's when it's not going to come," he said. "The main focus for us as a team and myself is to let the game come to you and play solid in our own zone and the rest will follow. I also wasn't expecting to score points in our last 60+ games anyways since that's pretty tough to do."
Chabot and Jaros are just a few of the young defencemen that have contributed for the Sens at the NHL level this season and while they continue to gain experience, Chabot also believes they can help this team win games now.
"Every young player on our team right now are good players," said Chabot. "We can all move the puck and we can all skate really well so those are things that help you in the NHL these days. We try to keep things simple because we maybe don't have a lot of experience yet but I think we're all improving every game and that can only help us in the standings."
And here's how the defence pairings should look against Detroit:
Chabot - DeMelo
Lajoie - Ceci
Borowiecki - Wideman

In Goal

Anderson (7-5-3) gets the nod in goal for the Sens tonight where he will make his 17th appearance of the season will be the most among goalies in the NHL this year. As a result of Anderson's heavy workload, Boucher has been supplying his starter with some necessary maintenance days lately.
"It's just to take care of the body and make sure everything is good," said Anderson who did not practice with the team yesterday. "I like practicing but it's just one of those things that you have to be smart about. I'd prefer to be out there battling with the guys in a game so it's about conserving your energy."

Where to Watch

Puck drop is set for a little after 7:30 p.m. tonight at Canadian Tire Centre and you can
click here
to grab some tickets.
Can't make it to the rink? Put together a crew and hit up Local Heroes on Clyde where they'll be serving up personal pitchers of Molson Canadian for just $7.19.