Sport Day Preview: Linus Ullmark Out Once more as Ottawa Senators Host New Jersey Devils On Thursday Night time

The Ottawa Senators’ season is now every week previous, and far of the media consideration has been on harm points. However earlier than anybody adopts a woe-is-us stance, this isn’t a novel NHL state of affairs, even this early within the season.

Living proof: the New Jersey Devils, Ottawa’s opponent at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday evening. However let’s get you up to date on the Sens’ state of affairs.

Ottawa’s beginning goalie, Linus Ullmark, continues to be coping with what the membership describes as a pressure. Ullmark was again skating at observe on Thursday morning, testing issues out, however he is not going to gown for the second straight sport. So, after giving up three objectives on 9 pictures on Monday, Anton Forsberg will get the beginning.

In the meantime, defenceman Artem Zub (concussion) and Ridly Greig (higher physique) will each be out for at the least one other week or two. Zub’s absence pushes Travis Hamonic right into a top-four position and permits Jacob Bernard-Docker to make his season debut in a really inexperienced pairing with former North Dakota teammate Tyler Kleven.

However, once more, the Senators haven’t got the market cornered on harm points. The key is having depth, an NHL workforce’s rainy-day fund, and groups by no means go very far with out it.

The Devils have began the yr at 4-2, though two of their high defencemen, Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes, have but to play a sport.

Hughes, who completed third in Calder Trophy voting, suffered a shoulder harm throughout low season coaching. He will not be again till someday in November.

Pesce, one in all their large free-agent signings within the low season, nonetheless hasn’t performed after fracturing his fibula in final season’s playoffs. He signed a six-year, $33 million deal to affix the Devils and is scheduled to debut with the workforce any day now.

Even Santeri Hatakka, one in all their depth defensemen, needed to have shoulder surgical procedure after an harm in a preseason sport towards the Montreal Canadiens.

Seamus Casey, for one, has stepped up large with three objectives and an help, main all Devils defencemen in objectives and factors.

The membership’s high scorer total is, surprisingly, former Senator first-rounder Stefan Noesen. He and Jesper Bratt lead all Devils with six factors in six video games. Noesen is not the one former Sens first-rounder on the squad; Curtis Lazar is within the last yr of his three-year cope with the Devils.

Ottawa’s high scorer, Tim Stützle, wanted simply three video games to achieve the six-point mark and lead all Senators. He and his linemate, Brady Tkachuk, have mixed for 11 factors already. Tkachuk, as you’d count on, has nothing however reward for the younger German.

Travis Inexperienced, the Sens’ new head coach, was very lately the bench boss in New Jersey. He took over on an interim foundation in early March when Lindy Ruff was fired.

After the season, Inexperienced was nonetheless being thought of for the Devils’ full-time job, however when the group started speaking to different candidates, they allowed Inexperienced to do the identical. Inexperienced signed in Ottawa on Could seventh, and former Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe made a cope with the Devils two weeks later.

The Sens are coming off a weird, fun-as-hell 8-7 time beyond regulation win over Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. Inexperienced, who has loads of intel on the Devils, was requested about the place the Sens can enhance on Thursday.

“Effectively, our puck administration goes to should large towards New Jersey,” Inexperienced instructed the media. “For those who flip the puck over, they are going to make you pay for it. They have lots of high-end offensive gamers that may transfer and stand up the ice fast,”

The Sens’ observe right this moment was non-compulsory, and Thomas Chabot, Nick Jensen, David Perron, Shane Pinto, and Jake Sanderson opted out.

These are the most likely traces, primarily based on Wednesday’s observe:

Tkachuk – Stützle – Giroux
Gregor – Norris – Batherson
Perron – Pinto – Amadio
Cousins – Gaudette – MacEwen

Sanderson – Hamonic
Chabot – Jensen
Kleven – Bernard-Docker

Forsberg

This is your replace on the Devils, who’ve shuffled the deck at ahead, transferring their left wingers round.

Paul Cotter – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Dawson Mercer
Tomas Tatar – Erik Haula – Stefan NoesenOndrej Palat – Curtis Lazar – Nick Bastian

Brenden Dillon – Dougie HamiltonJonas Siegenthaler – Johnathan KovacevicSeamus Casey – Simon Nemec

Jacob Markstrom

Markstrom will get the beginning for the Devils. His backup, Jake Allen, grew to become the reply to a trivia query this week, due to an early victory over the brand new youngsters on the town, the Utah Hockey Membership. Who’s the one goalie in NHL historical past to submit a win towards 33 totally different NHL golf equipment?

Face-off is 7 pm at Canadian Tire Centre (RDS2, TSN5).