We’re getting to the end of the 2021-22 season for the Ottawa Senators, and tonight is the fourth and final instalment of the Battle of Ontario versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although Ottawa won in the season opener, Toronto won the next two, including an embarrassing 6-0  game in January. So the Senators have a chance to even up the season series against a Cup contending team.

This game will be in Ottawa, although as we know, it’s not exactly a home-ice advantage in these matchups. The Maple Leafs are battling for 2nd in the Atlantic Division as they sit 4 points up on the Tampa Bay Lightning (who will most likely be their playoff opponent). Hurting their chances at getting home-ice advantage in the first round certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Here are the projected lines for tonight:

Sens lines from the morning skate.

Tkachuk Norris Brown
Formenton Stützle Batherson
Tierney White Gaudette
Kelly Gambrell Watson

Del Zotto Hamonic
Brannstrom Zub
Holden Zaitsev
Mete

Forsberg- starters end.
Gustavsson

— TSN 1200 (@TSN1200) April 16, 2022

Game Notes

• The injury bug continues to haunt the Senators, as Mathieu Joseph will be out for longer than they anticipated. It’s unclear what is wrong or if he’ll be able to suit up for any of the six games after tonight.
• Mads Søgaard was sent down to Belleville and Filip Gustavsson was recalled.
• DJ Smith is hopeful that Matt Murray, Thomas Chabot, and Jake Sanderson can get into a game or two before the season ends, but their statuses are unclear. Out of all of them, getting to see Sanderson would be the most exciting, as it will be a long wait until October to watch him finally play in the NHL.
• Alex Formenton has gone pointless in his last nine games and has just one goal in 13 games. It’d be nice for him to finish the season on a high note after this poor stretch.
• Brady Tkachuk is three goals away from 30 and he has seven games to get there. It’s far from a guarantee but it’s very possible.
• Auston Matthews is having an MVP-caliber season as he has a whopping 58 goals in 69 games and had a stretch of 50 games with 51 goals. He’s only played once against Ottawa this season and was held pointless.
• Rookie goalie Erik Källgren gets the start for Toronto, and he has just an .899 SV% in 10 games. It could be a high-scoring game tonight./

Team Stats

Player Stats