Coming off a stretch of nine games in 15 days, the Ottawa Senators were finally able to have a three-day break ahead of Wednesday’s divisional matchup with the Florida Panthers.
The Sens had a day off on Sunday after returning from Philadelphia. On Monday, the team used two pads of ice at Bell Sensplex for a longer practice than normal, which included skills work for the forwards at the beginning of practice and for the defencemen afterward. On Tuesday, the team studied video and hosted an optional practice which was well-attended.
“Well-needed, you know, we hadn’t had a practice for a while,” said Travis Green after that skate.
“And not only practices, but you can’t overload your team with too much video when you’re playing a lot of games with pre-scouts, and so it’s been nice to have a day where we can really dial in some of our game, our structure, so yeah, it’s been good to have a few days.”
On Wednesday, former Senators captain Brady Tkachuk will return to Canadian Tire Centre for the first time since he was traded to the Panthers in June. Green said that he wasn’t worrying about the reception for Tkachuk, but rather on preparing his team.
“My expectations don’t matter, that’s not my job to think about or worry about. But there will be a lot of emotion in the game, in the building, there always is when a player of that magnitude first comes back,” said Green.
“Whenever there’s a game with a lot of emotion in the building, it’s exciting. When you play on a Wednesday night in October in your own building, it’s not always a lot of emotion. You can feel certain games that have kind of a feel to [them], and this will be a real fun game to play in. As a player, you like playing these games.”
The Senators are also hoping for a return from Jake Sanderson on Wednesday, who has been held out of the lineup since leaving the team’s season opener in Toronto. Sanderson has skated with the team on back-to-back days.
“We don’t have him back yet, but it’s been nice, good to see him out there with the team, and hoping he plays tomorrow,” said Travis Green.
Whenever he returns, Sanderson will be a huge boost to a Senators blueline that has already used 10 different defencemen this year. Sanderson credited recently-extended assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner with preparing the blueline to weather any kind of storm.
“I think he does a good job. I think in practice we build good chemistry with everyone, and I think everyone in our D-corps is pretty tight and can pretty much play with anyone. It doesn't really matter. So yeah, I think that just shows the bond and friendship we have with our teammates,” said Sanderson.
The 24-year-old also said that he tried to stay as locked in as possible on the team’s systems while he was out of the lineup to make his return as seamless as possible.
“I tried to stay mentally sharp, even though I'm not playing, so when I come back, the transition can be somewhat smooth,” said Sanderson.
“It won't be all the time, but yeah, I think the team's been playing awesome. Guys have been in and out of the lineup, and we've been able to juggle some wins together, so it's been good.”
