Ottawa Senators: Duchene Makes His Debut As Global Series Begins

The Ottawa Senators after a long stretch of games off will play their first game in Sweden. Taking on Colorado in the first game of the back to back, Matt Duchene will make his debut for the Ottawa Senators.

In what has been a whirlwind for Matt Duchene, he will play his first two games with the Ottawa Senators against his former team, the Colorado Avalanche. As exciting as Duchene’s debut is, the main focus this weekend should be on getting four points.

Forward

At forward the Sens will opt to use 11 forwards. They will scratch Jack Rodewald. The forwards to be used will be: Zack Smith, Matt Duchene, Mike Hoffman, Ryan Dzingel, Derick Brassard, Mark Stone, Tom Pyatt, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Alex Burrows, Chris DiDomenico, and Nate Thompson.

Defence

On defence the Sens will use seven defencemen. Among them will be Ben Harpur who is making his return from injury. The other six will be: Fredrik Claesson, Erik Karlsson, Dion Phaneuf, Johnny Oduya, Chris Wideman, and Cody Ceci.

Goal

In goal the Sens will use Craig Anderson for the first game of the weekend. As it’s two games in two nights, that means the Sens will likely use Mike Condon tomorrow.

Next: Ottawa Senators: A Two Year Cup Window And Their Cap Situation

Taking Advantage Of A Weakened Team

The Ottawa Senators haven’t played for nearly a week. However, the same can be said for the Colorado Avalanche. Both teams took long breaks prior to this trip to Sweden. As a result, it can be expected that both teams will be relatively rusty. Since this is affecting both teams equally it won’t be an excuse for the Sens to play poorly.

With the Sens acquiring Matt Duchene from Colorado they have a prime opportunity to get two victories against a severely weakened team. That starts with getting two points tonight.