Game 34 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ Florida Panthers

When it rains, it pours — the Ottawa Senators (and Bobby Ryan in particular) have been hit with another set of injuries.

Zack Smith (IR - shoulder) joined Gabriel Dumont on the IR; Bobby Ryan (finger...again) is out tonight but hopeful against Boston post-holiday break; Craig Anderson is out with the flu so Danny Taylor has been called up to take his place.

There’s no word on Dion Phaneuf, but all indications are that he’s still in Ottawa with his newborn child. Thus, expect to see some of the Belleville Sens draw into the lineup:

Dzingel - Duchene - Burrows Thompson - Brassard - Stone Hoffman - Pageau - Pyatt Paul - Chlapik - DiDomenico

Oduya - Karlsson Harpur - Ceci Claesson - Chabot

Condon (starter) Taylor

Some notes heading into this one:

• Florida’s three points ahead of the Sens but have played two more games. If you’re on #TeamTank, a loss here would help put some distance between the two teams
• The Panthers have scored the third-most goals in the Atlantic (102), but have given up the most (119). Roberto Luongo is out long-term, and James Reimer has been bad this season
• Karlsson missed the hat-trick on Thursday, but now has points in four of his last five and has been playing 28+ minutes a night. Look for him to try to put the team on his back here heading into the holidays
• The Panthers top-line of Dadonov - Barkov - Huberdeau are deadly. They’re the #fancycats’ main scoring threat and are three of the team’s seven players with a positive shot differential
• The Panthers are aggressive on the penalty kill, and already have six shorthanded goals (Barkov with 4, Trocheck with 2)
• Trocheck has the team lead in points with 35, and the main offensive option outside the top-line; on defence, Keith Yandle (20P) and Aaron Ekblad (12P) lead the way with ~24 minutes of ice-time/

Team Stats

(via NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick)