The Battle of Ontario will move to Ottawa on Saturday night for the first time this season.
Fresh off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs will make a short stop in Ottawa to play the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators are coming off a comeback win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night, thanks to late-game heroics from Brady Tkachuk. Travis Green told the media on Saturday morning that the same lineup would carry over from that game, including starting netminder Linus Ullmark.
Green shuffled the forward lines down the stretch on Thursday night — like he often does when he’s looking for a spark — but the same four lines that have started the last seven games skated together at morning skate on Saturday.
“I think during the game, going into the game sometimes I have in the back of my mind something I might try, or sometimes during the game just whoever’s going, I’ll make a change if we don’t like the look of something,” explained Green.
“But these lines have been good for a little while, I think it’s obvious that I’m not afraid to change, but we’ve played well with them.”
Meanwhile, the Sens are relying on contributions from defencemen who have stepped up in the absence of Jake Sanderson and Nick Jensen.
Thomas Chabot saw 30:53 time on ice on Thursday on the first pair, the most he’d played in a game that ended in regulation since Nov. 23, 2021. Dennis Gilbert is set to play his fifth game in a row since being called up from Belleville, proving a steady partner for Nikolas Matinpalo on the third pair.
“We’re just trying to be really simple and efficient with the puck,” said Gilbert. “And then just really reliable and strong defensively, and physical. There’s a fine line in our system between being good defensively and running around chasing contact and stuff. So just trying to make sure that I’m underneath my guy, and communicating with my partner and my teammates on the ice.”
