Just over 24 hours after dropping a Saturday matinee game to the Minnesota Wild, the Ottawa Senators will get a chance to avenge their loss when they meet the Carolina Hurricanes at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
“Yeah, it helps,” said Shane Pinto on Saturday night about the opportunity to bounce back. “I think obviously it stings right now, but we’ve got to get ready, get our bodies ready to battle a little bit harder tomorrow and come out with a good effort.”
The Senators welcomed back star defenceman Jake Sanderson to their lineup on Saturday, a welcome sign for their battered blueline and for a team looking to hold down the final wild card spot in the East.
“Great to play again, a little bit rusty for sure, but as expected,” said Sanderson. “But yeah, I think just excitement, and trying to help this team, the guys have been absolutely grinding lately, so super excited to get back.”
Sanderson played a team-high 24:55 in his return to the lineup, recording three shots. He played primarily with Artem Zub (12:46 of TOI at five-on-five), but also saw action with Jordan Spence (6:48 of TOI at five-on-five).
“Guys have been playing awesome, definitely that next man up mentality,” said Sanderson. “I think it doesn’t really matter who’s out of the lineup right now, we’ve dealt with injuries all year and I think our guys have handled it great.”
The Sens have dropped both meetings this year against the Hurricanes, who arrived in Ottawa late Saturday night after defeating the New York Islanders on home ice.
“I’ve liked them, I’ve liked both games,” said Travis Green ahead of the game when asked how he’d assess the Sens’ play in those games.
“There’s a lot of similarities in our game, a couple differences, of course, that’s going to happen, but both teams want to play aggressive, both teams want to play on top of you, and it’s going to be a little bit of a battle of who can get to their game first tonight.”
