The Ottawa Senators have officially punched their ticket to the postseason, and while a matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs always brings a certain level of intensity, the bigger picture matters more than a single regular season win.
With the playoffs starting in a few days, this could be the perfect time to give Linus Ullmark, Tim Stutzle, Thomas Chabot, and Jake Sanderson another night off.
Senators should sit their top stars
Ullmark has been the backbone of this late-season surge. Since the Olympic break, he has taken on a massive workload to get Ottawa into this position. At this stage, he has nothing left to prove in the regular season. Starting James Reimer on Wednesday would allow Ullmark to stay fresh and avoid any fluke injuries before the real games begin.
On the blue line, no two players are more important to the Senators' success than Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson. Both guys consistently log heavy minutes against top competition, and Chabot especially has dealt with his fair share of wear and tear over the last couple of months.
Including both of them being out of the lineup dealing with injuries. None more impressive than Chabot, who returned from a broken arm in just 17 days after the injury occurred.Â
While fans always want to beat Toronto, the risk of a "meaningless" injury to a core piece of the roster far outweighs the reward of two points in the standings. If the Senators want to be ready for the playoffs, they need their stars healthy and rested.
There would be nothing worse than playing their top players and have one of them go down with an injury. It’s tough to see but would also drastically ruin their chances in the first round. Especially considering their captain, Brady Tkachuk could be dealing with an injury that could keep him out of the lineup for the first part of the first round.