Florida Panthers @ Ottawa Senators: Gameday Preview

The Ottawa Senators will close out their five game homestand with a visit from the Florida Panthers, who sit only 1 point behind the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Ottawa: 23-23-5-5

Florida: 26-19-4-8

7:00 PM EST

Canadian Tire Centre

Ottawa, Ontario

TV: Sportsnet; Radio: TSN 1200

MATCH-UP HISTORY

This is the third meeting of the season between the Panthers and Senators. The teams having split the previous two games, which were both in Florida. Ottawa posted a 1-0 shutout against Cats on October 13th with the currently concussed Clarke MacArthur scoring the loan goal and Craig Anderson, now suffering from a bone bruise in his right hand, in net. The Panthers took the second game by a score of 3-2 on November 28th, with Al Montoya stopping 22 of 24 shots for the victory. Chris Neil, now another injured Senators player, leads Ottawa with 2 points against Florida, while Vincent Trochek leads the Panthers with 2 points, both assists, of his own against the Senators.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

ROBERTO LUONGO, FLA: Luongo’s first full season back with the Panthers has been a highly successful one. With a 22-14-10 record to go with a .921 save percentage, he’s kept Florida in the playoff race. Expect him to be on his A game tonight, moreso than usual, as a win, combined with a loss from the Boston Bruins, would vault the Panthers into the final Wild Card spot in the East.

ERIK KARLSSON, OTT: The Senators’ captain has been on a tear of late, posting 9 points in his last five games. It’s no coincidence the he has been much better since the return of Marc Methot, his regular partner on the blueline and the only defensive defenceman on the Ottawa roster who can keep up with Karlsson’s strong-skating game. It not only gives Karlsson more confidence on the ice to try and create offense, but it also gives him a viable option to move the puck to if he’s being checked well by the opposition. If Karlsson’s feeling good, and all evidence on the ice points to that, then the Senators stand to benefit immensely.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. CAN’T STOP WHAT HE CAN’T SEE: While Luongo was in net for the Panthers’ loss to the Senators earlier this season, he only allowed one goal in that game. Odds are Ottawa will need more than that to beat Florida, and that means making life as difficult as possible for the star netminder. Effectively screening him, as well as being in position to get any rebounds, will be paramount to success.

2. HAMBURGLER HELPERS: Andrew Hammond was solid in his first NHL start and win against the Montreal Canadiens last Wednesday,and he deserves credit for that. However, a big part of that victory was the Senators playing better defence and clearing away loose pucks to limit the opposition’s second chances, as well as some puck luck of their own. They’ll need to keep limiting follow-up chances if they hope to win with their third-string goalie. That being said, another steady performance from Hammond would also be nice. He has to be feeling good after getting his first win, so perhaps his confidence and comfort level will continue to grow.

3. PICKING UP THE SLACK: Due to injuries, the Senators’ best performers agains the Panthers this season, MacArthur, Anderson, and surprisingly Neil, are all out for tonight’s game. The rest of the roster will need to break through against the Cats if they hope to keep their very faint playoff hopes alive. Granted, both of the previous games against Florida were on the road, so perhaps home ice can help tip the scales in Ottawa’s favour.

PROJECTED LINE-UPS

Neil, MacArthur, Anderson, and Robin Lehner are all still out for the Senators, leaving Andrew Hammond to start. Shane Prince was returned to Binghamton after the team’s win over Montreal, which was followed by 2011 first round pick Matt Puempel getting called-up to make his NHL debut. The forward lines during yesterday’s practice were:

There will also be one change on the defence for tonight:

More to come.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the game!