Jordan Spence set to play former team for first time since draft day trade

Jordan Spence wasn’t going to deny it.

The defenceman looked at the Ottawa Senators’ schedule as soon as he got traded to them on the second day of the NHL Entry Draft this past offseason to see how soon he could get a crack at the team who traded him, the Los Angeles Kings.

“I made good memories, and we were all good friends, so it was good to catch up,” said a beaming Spence, who treated some of his former teammates to dinner last night as the Kings got into Ottawa.

“At the same time, it’s business, and we’re friends off the ice but not on the ice.”

The Senators will play their first Saturday night home game of the season as they welcome the Kings to Canadian Tire Centre for a 7 p.m. start. Both teams enter with identical 9-5-4 records.

Both Spence and Travis Green said the defensive structure the Kings play will make it hard to generate high-danger chances for both teams tonight.

“We’re going to have to be on top of our game tonight, two teams that don’t give up a lot,” said Green.

“We’re going to have to work for our chances. But we’ve had a good stretch here at home, we needed to. We’re going on the road for a little while, so we want to finish strong tonight.”

The Faceoff

The Los Angeles Kings have been road warriors this fall, tying for the league lead with 11 away games. They hold a record of 8-1-2 in those games, a stark contrast from their 1-4-2 record at home.

Spence scored eight goals and added 53 assists through 180 games with the Kings, who drafted the defenceman in the fourth round (95th overall) in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Spence also appeared in 13 playoff games with Los Angeles, scoring once and adding an assist.

Michael Amadio, off to the best start of his career with six goals and nine points through the team’s first 18 games, was also drafted and began his career in Los Angeles. Amadio scored 16 goals and added 23 assists over 168 games with the Kings.

Linus Ullmark has never lost in regulation to the Kings, and will start tonight for the Sens. The goaltender holds a 4-0-3 record in seven starts against Los Angeles, with a .910 save percentage and 2.34 goals-against average.

David Perron leads all players in career games played (53), in goals (18), in assists (24), in points (42), and in penalty minutes (30) against Los Angeles.

Loose Pucks

The Senators have lost only one in regulation time over their past 12 games dating back to October 21. In that span, the Senators have posted a 7-1-4 record (.750 points percentage).

It’s the first time in more than 10 years Ottawa has played a stretch of 12 regular season games with only one regulation time loss, dating back to the “Hamburglar” run in 2014–15.

Hayden Hodgson will draw back into the lineup for the Sens. The bruising winger has racked up five hits in two games with the Sens since being recalled from Belleville.

“He’s good, I like him a lot as a player,” said Green on Saturday morning. “He brings a lot of energy, he’s fast, he’s smart, he can hit hard.”

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