We'll start with what's been confirmed, Fredrik Claesson is set to check back into the series on defence today. Claesson made his NHL playoff debut in Game #1 of this series filling in for Marc Methot and skated for 18:39 in the 2-1 loss.
"Claesson has played really good for us this year," said Sens head coach Guy Boucher during his meda availability today. "Every time he's come in, he's had a really good impact offensively and defensively and he's fresh. At this time in the series and the more you move on, the more fresh, able guys you have and you want to put them in."
To make room for Claesson, Chris Wideman comes out of the defensive rotation for the first time in the series. Wideman played in 76 regular season games this year for a Senators' defence corps that saw 11 different players rotate through the top 6.
"I'm not here to make the easy decisions, I'm here to make the tough ones," Boucher continued. "I've had to make a few tough ones in the playoffs but before that I didn't really have to make any decisions all year in terms of the roster because we were always missing guys. But that's our quality depth right now that gives us that luxury and I think it's important to exercise it when it's time. Giving Wideman a little break will help him."
On forward, Tommy Wingels will also slot back into the line-up for the first time since Game #1. Wingels was another victim of the numbers game in this series after seeing his spot go to Ryan Dzingel in Game #2 but the Sens are hoping his experience and fresh legs can be a factor in Game #6.
"Freshness is something that's important," said Boucher. "With Wingels coming in, he's a guy with a lot of drive and freshness and speed...same with Claesson. Two more fresh guys that I think will help our line-up today."
One final note for as we get set for a 3 p.m. game start, Viktor Stalberg, who left Friday's game with an injury, will take the warm-up but will be a game-time decision. If Stalberg is unable to play, it's not entirely clear who will take his spot but the two most likely candidates would probably be Chris Kelly or Colin White. Keep an eye on our Twitter for confirmation.
