The Ottawa Senators last played on Dec. 22 when they fell 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers to drop to 18-14-2 on the season. With the Christmas break now over for the Senators, it's back to work against the second-best team in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets.
Opening up after the Christmas break against the second-best team in the NHL in the first game back might be unfair for some, but it's a challenge that the Senators are going to need to answer to.
Senators return from Christmas break to play Jets in Winnipeg
The Senators travel to Canada Life Centre to take on the Jets at 7 p.m. ET. In two of the past three seasons, the Senators and Jets have split their season series against each other.
On Sunday night, the Senators suffered a brutal 3-1 loss against the Oilers. The Senators suffered a blow when Linus Ullmark had to leave the game with an upper body injury to ruin the holiday spirit. Leevi Merilainen replaced Ullmark and made 12 saves starting at the start of the second period to earn the loss. Nick Cousins scored the lone goal in the game for the Senators.
As for the Jets, their 25-10-1 record is the NHL's second-best record. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's 22-5-1 record with a 2.07 goals against average and .927 save percentage is a key reason why the Jets have the best record in the NHL.
Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele are tied for the most goals on the team with 21, but Connor leads the team with 47 points. Defenseman Josh Morrissey leads the Jets with 30 assists.
Yesterday, injuries hit the Senators at practice. Ullmark and Anton Forsberg were both not on the ice. Artem Zub, Michael Amadio and David Perron are also dealing with injuries.
Injuries do happen over a course of a season, but with where the Senators are at in the standings with holding the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference by one point, and with five games left on the nine-game road trip, the timing of all these injuries came at a horrible time. Especially, with playing the best team in the NHL tonight.