Category: Sports News

The Ottawa Senators will be in Montreal on Tuesday night, aiming for their seventh consecutive victory. Not only will they be facing a desperate Canadiens team, but it's a club that's had their number this year.

This is the third of four meetings between the two clubs, with the Canadiens winning the first two games by a combined score of 9-3.

After losing three of four games on their recent Western road trip, including two in overtime, the Canadiens are feeling good about a 3-1 victory over the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

With a win tonight, Senators goalie Linus Ullmark has a chance to achieve something truly Original: an Original Six sweep. This is his sixth consecutive start where he'll face an Original Six team, something no goalie has done since 1971. 

And just as unlikely is the fact that he has a chance to win them all.

In his last five starts, Ullmark has defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs. A victory over the Canadiens would make him part of a great trivia question: Name the only NHL goalie to face all of the Original Six teams in a consecutive six-game span and win every game.

More importantly, the Senators are in control of the Wild Card race, sitting in the top spot with 77 points, five points ahead of the New York Rangers, who hold the second Wild Card spot with 72 points.

The Canadiens have 71 and hold two games in hand on the Rangers, so Montreal will be hoping for a strong performance from the Calgary Flames when they visit Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

Ottawa’s hopes of climbing to third place in the Atlantic Division took a hit on Monday night, with both Toronto and Tampa Bay winning their respective games. The Senators are now six points behind the top three in the division.

The Senators will go with the same lineup in Montreal that they used in Toronto on Saturday night. Defenseman Nick Jensen will miss his second consecutive game due to a lower-body injury. Ullmark and Brady Tkachuk missed practice on Monday, but both are expected to play against the Canadiens.

Winger Nick Cousins remains sidelined after knee surgery. If the projected recovery timeline of 6-8 weeks holds, he could return soon. It's now been nearly seven weeks since his surgery.

Senators Projected Lineup:

 Forwards:

• Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Claude Giroux
• David Perron – Dylan Cozens – Drake Batherson
• Ridly Greig – Shane Pinto – Michael Amadio
• Matthew Highmore – Adam Gaudette – Fabian Zetterlund

Defense:

• Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub
• Thomas Chabot – Travis Hamonic
• Tyler Kleven – Nikolas Matinpalo

Goalies:

• Linus Ullmark
• Anton Forsberg

Scratched: Dennis Gilbert Injured: Nick Cousins (knee), Nick Jensen (lower body)

Canadiens Projected Lineup:

Forwards:

• Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
• Joshua Roy – Alex Newhook – Patrik Laine
• Josh Anderson – Christian Dvorak – Brendan Gallagher
• Emil Heineman – Jake Evans – Joel Armia

Defense:

• Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
• Jayden Struble – Lane Hutson
• Arber Xhekaj – David Savard

Goalies:

• Sam Montembeault
• Jakub Dobes

Scratched: Michael Pezzetta Injured: Kaiden Guhle (lacerated quadriceps muscle)

Face-off is at 7 pm (TSN5, TSN 2, RDS).

By Steve Warne
Site Editor at The Hockey News Ottawa

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The Florida Panthers will have a new face in the locker room this week.

On Tuesday, the Panthers recalled defenseman Tobias Bjornfot from the American Hockey League’s Charlotte Checkers.

The move is due to an injury suffered by Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on Sunday against the New York Islanders.

Kulikov left the game late in the first period after being involved in a hit with New York’s Anthony Duclair.

Clutching his right arm, Kulikov skated off the ice and immediately went to Florida’s locker room.

Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice did not have any update on Kulikov following the game, and he won’t be heard from until after Florida’s practice on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale.

Bjornfot will join the Panthers for the final two games of their six-game roadie, which will be on Thursday in Columbus and Saturday in Washington D.C.

He played eight games with Florida back in January, averaging 13:24 of ice time while racking up eight shots on goal, 10 hits, five blocked shots and earning a plus-2 on-ice rating with zero penalty minutes.

The 23-year-old is having a solid season in Charlotte, with 2 goals, 16 points and 22 penalty minutes through 43 AHL contests.

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