Karlsson admitted there might be some nerves tonight as he skates in his first game in a little over 4 months but hopes to keep things simple while he shakes off any rust.
In regards to the rest of the line-up, Sens head coach Guy Boucher wasn't able to confirm his game roster as he was waiting to hear back about a defenceman who was a bit banged up from the road trip. With 12 forwards and 7 defencemen currently at his disposal, we find ourselves in another "11 & 7" or "12 & 6" situation. Something interesting from today's coach presser was Boucher analyzing the advantages of rolling with just 11 forwards and how that allows you to stray away from match-ups, particularly on the road.
"Top players hate playing with 4 lines. They detest that," said Boucher during his game day media availability. "When you can ice a fourth line with Mark Stone on it...that's not a fourth line anymore. You put Kyle Turris on it...that's not a fourth line anymore. So it becomes very difficult for the opponent to match that."
There weren't really any line rushes this morning but I jotted down the lines and pairings from yesterday's practice if you're into that kind of thing. Up front it's basically what we saw out west but the defence pairings are a bit jumbled with Karlsson in and Chabot back in Belleville.
Ryan - Brassard - Stone
Smith - Turris - Dzingel
Hoffman - Pageau - Pyatt
Burrows - Brown - Thompson
Phaneuf - Karlsson
Oduya - Ceci
Claesson - Wideman
Borowiecki
