As the Ottawa Senators are set to begin their five game road trip tonight in Las Vegas, head coach Travis Green announced that he would begin the game with a similar lineup to Saturday night’s win over the New York Rangers. That also means that goaltender Jonas Johansson will get his second straight start over backup netminder Samuel Ersson.
Johansson’s first start of the season (and his first game as a member of the Senators organization) was solid. He led his team to a 7-4 win while stopping 23/27 saves, giving him a 0.852 save percentage. Although it’s not the most encouraging of numbers, he looked solid in net, and the stat sheet showed he stopped 10/11 high-danger saves and had a -0.4 goals saved above expected average. He also picked up his first NHL point with a secondary assist on Michael Amadio’s empty net goal. His play earned him a start over Ersson, who, with over 5 games played, has allowed 16 goals against and posted a -5.8 goals saved above expected average. The two have been manning the crease while starting goalie Linus Ullmark continues to rehab from an injury that occurred in Wednesday night’s game.
Top-six consistency
What’s also promising is it looks like Green may have found some consistency in his top six as he is continuing to roll with the same top lines as the previous game. The top line consisting of Fabian Zetterlund, Tim Stützle, and Claude Giroux is one of the top lines across the league right now, with their expected goals percentage tied for second in the league at 95%. The trio will need to continue to generate scoring opportunities and score more goals to improve their 1.9 expected goals while top-six winger William Eklund continues to rehab from his ankle injury.
The Senators’ second line, consisting of Warren Foegele, Dylan Cozens, and Drake Batherson, has also been buzzing. Batherson and Cozens racked up an impressive four goals and two assists thanks primarily to Batherson’s hat trick. Cozens finally notched his first goal of the season, which surely removed the looming monkey off of his back.
Almost back to full health
The defensive pairings will look the same as captain Thomas Chabot remains out with an upper-body injury. Chabot is eyeing a return on this road trip and was skating as an extra during yesterday’s morning skate. Ullmark’s injury recovery has a similar timeline to Chabot's, and both travelled with the team on this road trip that wraps up next Thursday in Buffalo. When these two key players return, the Senators (hopefully) will have their most healthy lineup barring the Eklund injury.
Although the Senators will be looking to string together their second straight win, it may be easier said than done. The club will face a hungry Vegas Golden Knights team who lost their third consecutive game to the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night. To add more to the situation, starting goalie Carter Hart left the Golden Knights' morning skate with an apparent lower body injury. This means that the Senators will most likely face backup goaltender Adin Hill.
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