Game Day: Ottawa Senators Call Up Angus Crookshank Ahead of Sunday's Game In Pittsburgh

The Ottawa Senators begin the final 10 games of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena (5 pm TSN5, RDS). Now eight points above the playoff cut line, the Senators are now in outstanding shape to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Ottawa Senators winger Angus Crookshank (James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images)

The last time they played a postseason game was in that very arena on May 25, 2017 – a double-overtime loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final.

A lot has changed and neither team has had much success since that season. While Ottawa's playoff drought is well-documented, the Penguins have only won one playoff series since (2018 vs PHI), and are tracking to miss the playoffs for a third straight year.

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The Senators currently hold the Conference’s top wild card spot. They’re now eight points above the playoff cut line after a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. This cushion gives the Sens some breathing room and the option of resting certain players who are dealing with nagging injuries.

To that end, the Senators called up winger Angus Crookshank from Belleville on Sunday morning. This move suggests that team captain Brady Tkachuk or another banged-up forward will sit out rather than try to play two games in less than 24 hours.

As you'd expect, the club didn't skate on Sunday morning, so Travis Green's lineup changes, if any, will be announced closer to game time.

Ottawa’s final 10 games will be all about maintenance. The Sens aren’t likely to catch anyone in the top three of the Atlantic Division, nor are they likely to be reeled in by anyone in their rearview mirror. Their goal now is to maintain that wild card and, ideally, give certain players the maintenance days they need to be as healthy as possible for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, with just one point separating the top three teams in the Atlantic, the eventual winner of the divisional race – probably Ottawa’s first-round opponent – will likely be the team that floors it right to the end.

Anton Forsberg will likely start after Ullmark had a busy night on Saturday in a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Opponent:

The Penguins are eight points behind the Rangers for the final wild card spot in the East, but with six teams to climb over, the task is nearly impossible. Pittsburgh's season is all but officially over, and their best players aren’t getting any younger.

So the Pens will begin to take a look at some of the kids in the AHL. They’ve called up two forwards from the AHL who will go right on to the club’s top two lines against Ottawa on Sunday.

Former Winnipeg Jets’ first-rounder Rutger McGroarty has played just three NHL games so far, and for his 21st birthday on Sunday, he’ll play on Sidney Crosby’s left side. McGroarty has 39 points in 60 games for the Baby Pens after being traded by the Jets in a contract dispute last summer. The dispute wasn’t complicated. The former University of Michigan star didn’t want to sign with Winnipeg.

Pittsburgh has also called up Ville Koivunen who’s sixth in AHL scoring with 55 points in 62 games. He’ll play on Rickard Rakell’s left side.

As for their superstar vets, Crosby, now 37, is still rolling with 80 points and counting. Incredibly, this is now his 20th point-per-game season, surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history. That said, it’s weird to see him among the worst 20 players in the league in plus/minus (-22), even if you don’t put much stock in the stat.

38-year-old Evgeni Malkin has just 15 goals and 46 points in 62 games, well off his career pace of 1.1 points per game. Malkin has missed the past week with an upper body injury and is listed as day to day.

Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start for the Penguins. There’s no love lost in Ottawa for Nedeljkovic, who dangerously slew-footed Cole Reinhardt in their last meeting in January. The Sens had the last laugh, pumping him for five goals on 17 shots in a 5-0 victory. No one likes cole slaw, and no one likes seeing a Cole slew.

Senators projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Tim Stutzle -- Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson
Brady Tkachuk -- Shane Pinto -- Ridly Greig
Matthew Highmore -- Adam Gaudette -- Michael Amadio