Senators return home to take on Mammoth

The Senators have found a way to grind out points in the absence of captain Brady Tkachuk.

In 12 games since their heart and soul was injured, the Sens are 6-3-3. In eight of their last nine games, Ottawa has picked up at least a point, after an overtime loss to Boston and an overtime win against Philadelphia on the road.

“There’s no easy games,” said Travis Green on Sunday afternoon. “Could we have played better, yes, but it’s also a good sign that we can get some points when the other team is playing well.”

Saturday’s game against Philadelphia marked another in a series of line shuffles for the Sens. Ridly Greig and David Perron flanked Tim Stützle on the first line, while Fabian Zetterlund moved up to the second line to play with Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson.

Greig, Perron, and Stützle took just over five minutes to connect for the game’s opening goal. “I liked part of their game,” said Travis Green after the game. “Wasn’t one of those games where there was a lot of offence either way, but it was nice to get the win.”

Stützle and Batherson ultimately reconnected in overtime, as Batherson sent a pass to the back door for a flying Stützle to redirect in and secure the win for the Sens.

The two points were big for the Senators as they return home for a tough four-game homestand. Each opponent the Sens play this week— Utah, Dallas, Boston, and Los Angeles — wakes up Sunday with a record above .500.

“You talk about speed in the new NHL, [Utah] has got a lot of it,” said Green. “They can skate, move the puck, they’ve got a lot of skill in that lineup, and we’ve got to be on our toes tonight.”

The Senators recalled winger Hayden Hodgson from Belleville on Sunday afternoon. Hodgson has scored three goals and added one assist so far for the B-Sens, and played two games with Ottawa last season.

Green said that he was “waiting on a few forwards’ [status for Sunday’s game],” but that the call-up was precautionary, and that he’s “not too worried about anyone.”

Leevi Meriläinen will make his third start of the season for the Sens. Meriläinen is riding a three-game win streak — with a pair coming in the AHL after a couple of stints with Belleville — into Sunday night.

The Faceoff

The Senators hold a 7-5-3 record heading into Sunday night’s contest at home against the Mammoth. This is the first time Ottawa has been two games above a .500 points percentage in November since Nov. 22, 2017 – when they held an 8-6-6 record.

Last season, the Sens beat the Mammoth twice. In October, a 31-save shutout from Anton Forsberg led Ottawa over Utah 4-0. On Jan. 26, 34 saves from tonight’s starter Meriläinen resulted in a 3-1 victory.

Fabian Zetterlund has scored in each of his three meetings against Utah, all coming while the winger was playing for San Jose. Zetterlund has four goals, five points, and is a +6 to lead current Sens in all three categories. Ridly Greig and Claude Giroux each have two goals against the Mammoth.

Loose Pucks

The Senators 3-2 overtime win against the Flyers on Saturday marked the fourth straight game that required extra time for Ottawa.

It’s the first time Ottawa has played four consecutive regular season games that required overtime since the tail end of the 2014-15 season — when they played five straight OT/shootout games from March 31 – April 7, 2015 (4-0-1 record) during the Hamburglar run to the playoffs.

The Senators picked up a 3-2 win in Philadelphia despite only registering 13 shots on goal against the Flyers. It’s just the third time in franchise history Ottawa has won a game while firing 13 shots or fewer against an opponent.

Tim Stützle scored a pair of goals on Saturday to raise his season total to eight goals in 2025-26. It’s the best goal-scoring start to a season Stützle has enjoyed after 15 games of a season, beating out his seven from last season.

Michael Amadio has scored a goal in three straight games for the Senators – against Montreal, Boston and Philadelphia. It ties a career-high for a goal-scoring streak, which he accomplished twice with the Vegas Golden Knights (Last: Feb. 19 – 22, 2024). The last Senators player to score a goal in our straight games was Brady Tkachuk, who notched a goal in five straight contests last season (Feb. 8 –March 8).

Shane Pinto has collected an assist in four straight games for the Senators — the first time in his career he’s accomplished a four-game assist streak. Pinto is now one game shy of tying his career-high of a five-game point streak, which he’s done twice in his career.

Twenty-seven of the NHL’s 32 teams sit at or above a .500 record entering action on Sunday, part of an early-season trend that has seen more games pushed to overtime and shootouts than in seasons prior.

The Senators have collected three wins (one overtime, two shootout) in six games that have gone past 60 minutes. They rank tied for fourth overall in the league with that total of six.

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