The Senators will be carrying some confidence and momentum with them heading into tonight’s game as they come off Saturday’s dominant 6-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. The game saw the Sens outshoot the Wild 52-16, the second largest shot differential in franchise history.
Six different skaters scored for the Senators, while four had multi-point outings. Jake Sanderson recorded a goal and three assists for four points, while Drake Batherson and Tim Stützle both had a goal and two assists for three points. With a goal and an assist, Brady Tkachuk recorded two points for his 100th career multi-point game, moving him into fifth all time in franchise history. Michael Amadio and Josh Norris both scored for the Senators as well. In net, Leevi Meriläinen stopped all 16 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season, the Senators’ league-leading eighth.
Tonight’s game will be the second of two meetings between the Senators and Predators this season. Their first meeting came at home on December 7 and resulted in a 3-1 Senators victory. Jacob Bernard-Docker, Nick Cousins and Claude Giroux all scored for the Senators while Linus Ullmark made 36 saves in goal for a .973% save percentage.
The Nashville Predators come into tonight’s game in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Most recently, they fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday in the form of a 3-0 shutout loss. Tonight will bring a motivated Predators team as they look to avoid dropping their fifth straight.
The Senators made some roster moves yesterday, as they recalled forward Cole Reinhardt from the team’s AHL affiliate in Belleville and reassigned goaltender Leevi Meriläinen. Additionally, Linus Ullmark was activated from LTIR.
Ullmark last played for the Senators in the first period of the team’s game against the Edmonton Oilers on December 22, 2024. In 23 games with the Senators this season, Ullmark has a 12-7-2 record with a 2.38 goals against average and a .915% save percentage.
Reinhardt has played in 12 games with Ottawa this season, recording a goal and an assist. The goal, coming on November 25, 2024, marked Reinhardt’s first career NHL goal. With Belleville, Reinhardt averages over a point per game with 17 in 16 games (seven goals, 10 assists).
