With the absence of Shane Pinto leaving a void in the middle of the Senators’ lineup, Tim Stützle is putting the onus on himself to be better defensively.
“Obviously if you miss a guy like that, he plays a lot of tough minutes for us, especially at home, and somebody else has to do that,” said Stützle after morning skate on Saturday.
“Guys have to step up and play a better role defensively, especially me. I think I haven’t been playing good defensively these past couple games, so I’ve got to be better than that.”
Ridly Greig, inserted into Pinto’s place between Claude Giroux and Michael Amadio on the third line, also feels the pressure. “It’s probably not going to be easy, he logs a lot of minutes against top lines,” said Greig, who has played three games since returning from an injury of his own.
After a stretch where the team allowed three or fewer goals 10 straight games, they’ve now allowed four or more in three of the past four games, starting with a loss to St. Louis, who they’ll get a second crack at on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Pinto was placed on injury reserve on Friday and will be out a minimum of two weeks, allowing the Sens to recall Hayden Hodgson from Belleville before the game. Hodgson and Stephen Halliday will dress together with the Sens for the first time this season.
The pair played almost the entirety of last season together in Belleville and parts of this season, offering some easy chemistry on the fourth line. “He’s obviously a playmaker, and someone that looks to find you and facilitates all over the ice, so yeah, just try to get open for him,” Hodgson told Sens360 about playing with Halliday.
“He’s a big centre, he’s really good with the puck down low. He’s really good with protecting the puck and obviously can find you if you’re open. He’s obviously grown over the last two years we’ve been playing together, and awesome to see him up here.”
On defence, Artem Zub will make his return to the lineup after missing one game with a lower-body injury. Zub skated with regular partner Jake Sanderson at morning skate.
Before the injury, Zub had been enjoying a career season offensively (two goals and 11 points in 26 games) while remaining stingy defensively (career-high 55.53 per cent on-ice expected goals-for percentage despite a career-low 35 per cent offensive zone start rate).
