Game 60 Preview: Ottawa Senators @ New Jersey Devils

Coming off an exhausting 8-7 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Ottawa Senators (22-32-5) will look to regain some semblance of structure, when they take on the New Jersey Devils (23-29-8) tonight at Prudential Center.

Both teams are looking to rebound after close losses, with the Senators falling 8-7 to the Hawks on Monday night, and the Devils dropping a 4-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00ET, and you can catch this one on TSN5, RDS2, as well as MSG+ for our friends south of the border. As always, Dean Brown and Gord Wilson will have the call on TSN1200, and the Devils Hockey Network will also feature a radio broadcast.

There have been plenty of questions and controversy regarding the Senators’ lineup tonight. All signs point to them sitting Matt Duchene to prevent injury before an imminent trade, but neither him nor head coach Guy Boucher have confirmed it. My guess is Duchene doesn’t play tonight, but Boucher says the decision will be made at gametime. Darren Archibald and Filip Chlapik have been recalled from Belleville, one will play tonight.

Bobby Ryan has also been ill, and no starting goaltender has been announced for tonight, so take this projected lineup with a grain of salt.

Game Notes

• It seems that Chlapik will be the call-up that plays tonight. He was made available to the media this morning, and it makes sense to have a natural centre fill into Matt Duchene’s spot. Hopefully he gets Top-6 minutes, otherwise what’s the point?
• The last time these two teams met up was December 21st, 2018. The Devils took advantage of a porous Ottawa defence en route to a 5-2 win. With the Sens finally getting some stability back between the pipes, look for this one to be a little closer tonight.
• The indication appears that Mark Stone will play tonight, not being sat like Duchene to avoid injury. Hopefully this indicates progress in ongoing contract negotiations, and not gross mismanagement on the part of the Senators. We’ll see what happens.
• The Devils are a depleted group tonight, missing at least Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha. The Sens need to take advantage of situations like this.
• You can find the Devils likely line combos and pairings at Left Wing Lock.

As always, here are some stats for tonight’s matchup, via NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick: