The Ottawa Senators will be in Montreal on Tuesday night, aiming for their seventh consecutive victory. Not only will they be facing a desperate Canadiens team, but it's a club that's had their number this year.
This is the third of four meetings between the two clubs, with the Canadiens winning the first two games by a combined score of 9-3.
After losing three of four games on their recent Western road trip, including two in overtime, the Canadiens are feeling good about a 3-1 victory over the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
With a win tonight, Senators goalie Linus Ullmark has a chance to achieve something truly Original: an Original Six sweep. This is his sixth consecutive start where he'll face an Original Six team, something no goalie has done since 1971.
And just as unlikely is the fact that he has a chance to win them all.
In his last five starts, Ullmark has defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs. A victory over the Canadiens would make him part of a great trivia question: Name the only NHL goalie to face all of the Original Six teams in a consecutive six-game span and win every game.
More importantly, the Senators are in control of the Wild Card race, sitting in the top spot with 77 points, five points ahead of the New York Rangers, who hold the second Wild Card spot with 72 points.
The Canadiens have 71 and hold two games in hand on the Rangers, so Montreal will be hoping for a strong performance from the Calgary Flames when they visit Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
Ottawa’s hopes of climbing to third place in the Atlantic Division took a hit on Monday night, with both Toronto and Tampa Bay winning their respective games. The Senators are now six points behind the top three in the division.
The Senators will go with the same lineup in Montreal that they used in Toronto on Saturday night. Defenseman Nick Jensen will miss his second consecutive game due to a lower-body injury. Ullmark and Brady Tkachuk missed practice on Monday, but both are expected to play against the Canadiens.
Winger Nick Cousins remains sidelined after knee surgery. If the projected recovery timeline of 6-8 weeks holds, he could return soon. It's now been nearly seven weeks since his surgery.
Senators Projected Lineup:
Forwards:
- Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Claude Giroux
- David Perron – Dylan Cozens – Drake Batherson
- Ridly Greig – Shane Pinto – Michael Amadio
- Matthew Highmore – Adam Gaudette – Fabian Zetterlund
Defense:
- Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub
- Thomas Chabot – Travis Hamonic
- Tyler Kleven – Nikolas Matinpalo
Goalies:
- Linus Ullmark
- Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert Injured: Nick Cousins (knee), Nick Jensen (lower body)
Canadiens Projected Lineup:
Forwards:
- Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky
- Joshua Roy – Alex Newhook – Patrik Laine
- Josh Anderson – Christian Dvorak – Brendan Gallagher
- Emil Heineman – Jake Evans – Joel Armia
Defense:
- Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier
- Jayden Struble – Lane Hutson
- Arber Xhekaj – David Savard
Goalies:
- Sam Montembeault
- Jakub Dobes
Scratched: Michael Pezzetta Injured: Kaiden Guhle (lacerated quadriceps muscle)
Face-off is at 7 pm (TSN5, TSN 2, RDS).
By Steve Warne
Site Editor at The Hockey News Ottawa
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