Game 17 Preview, Pittsburgh Penguins @ Ottawa Senators

It’s been almost a week, again, but the Senators are back on North American ice to host the Penguins.

The Sens come into this one riding high after the sweep of the Avs in Sweden, while the Penguins are coming off a bit of a messy win over Buffalo on Tuesday.

Here are some notes for tonight:

• The big question of how the team will be impacted by the Sweden trip is how they handle their first game back. They’ve had time to adjust, but will it be enough?
• Home debut of Matt Duchene! Still technically looking for his first point as a Senator, but Hoffman’s winner in the last game doesn’t happen without him
• Bobby Ryan and Mark Borowiecki return to the lineup tonight
• Looks like Chris Wideman is moving up to the wing again tonight. He did well in that role on Saturday, but still not entirely sure what to make of it
• Nick Paul was recalled this morning, but it sounds like it was to be an insurance bench warmer
• With the D pairings for tonight, I’ve also heard it will be Oduya-Phaneuf and Ceci-Boro. Colin may get his wish
• The PP unit of Karlsson, Hoffman, Brassard, Duchene, and Stone did really, really well in Sweden. A very high rate of shot attempts, way more than this (or any) team’s average and many of them dangerous and a pair of goals for their efforts. We’ll see how much of that they can maintain against not-Colorado
• Good news - Sidney Crosby broke his goal drought on Tuesday, so we don’t need to pencil him in for an automatic goal tonight!
• The Penguins have allowed 4+ goals in four of their last five, only holding the league’s lowest scoring team to less than that/

Here are some stats tonight from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick:

Team Stats

Player Stats