Jordan Spence Paired With Thomas Chabot Again As Senators Host Dallas Stars

DALLAS STARS (9-4-3) at OTTAWA SENATORS (8-5-3)
Faceoff: 7 pm at Canadian Tire Centre, TSN5, RDS2

Jordan Spence appears to have made a believer out of Senators head coach Travis Green… for the moment, anyway. Not only is Spence dressing on Tuesday night, which he’s only done seven times this season, but he’s paired with Thomas Chabot once again as the Senators host the Dallas Stars.

Midway through the 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth, and shortly after he scored his first goal as a Senator, Spence was moved up into the top four. He finished with over 20 minutes of ice time for the first time with Ottawa.

In short, Spence has replaced Nick Jensen, who finished the Utah game with a season low of 14:34 of ice. Jensen is coming off his resurfacing surgery back in May, and it remains to be seen if he can get his back up to where it was.

Last season, the veteran was credited for helping Chabot have one of his best seasons as a pro. Now, his status in that role moving forward is in question, so he’ll roll out for now in the third-pairing with Tyler Kleven while Spence gets his first start in the four-hole.

The Opponent

The Stars come in with a record of 9-4-3 and a new head coach. Or should we say a new old coach? Glen Gulutzan is back for another go, 12 years after the Stars fired him from the same role. When most new coaches arrive, their predecessor hasn’t left them with a tough act to follow, at least not recently.

But in the case of Gulutzan 2.0, he follows Pete DeBoer, the owner of the greatest career winning percentage in Dallas Stars history (.665). He also took his team to three Conference Finals in his three years with the club.

That Jim Nill is a tough guy to please.

One guy to watch on Tuesday is Mikko Rantanen, who leads the Stars with 21 points in 16 games, and has also been something of a Sens killer.

According to NHL.com, Rantanen is riding a five-game point streak against the Senators, earning 10 points (7-3—10) during that span. In all, he has 20 points (10-10—20) in 15 career games against Ottawa, with a plus-minus rating of +14.

Neither team has their rugged heart and soul captain in the lineup. While Brady Tkachuk has another month or so before he can return after wrist surgery, Jamie Benn is recovering from surgery for a collapsed lung suffered in a preseason game. Benn is getting close, though. He’s now travelling with the club again and participated in an optional morning skate on Tuesday.

Former Senator Matt Duchene is also sidelined with an injury and won’t play on Tuesday night (upper body).

Senators projected lineup (subject to change)

Senators projected lineup

David Perron — Tim Stutzle — Drake Batherson

Ridly Greig — Dylan Cozens — Fabian Zetterlund

Michael Amadio — Shane Pinto — Claude Giroux

Olle Lycksell — Lars Eller — Hayden Hodgson

Jake Sanderson — Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot — Jordan Spence

Tyler Kleven — Nick Jensen

Linus Ullmark

Leevi Merilainen

Stars projected lineup (subject to change)

Sam Steel — Wyatt Johnston — Mikko Rantanen

Jason Robertson — Roope Hintz — Tyler Seguin

Oskar Back — Justin Hyrckowian — Colin Blackwell

Adam Erne — Radek Faksa — Maverick Bourque

Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen

Thomas Harley — Ilya Lyubuhskin

Lian Bichsel — Alexander Petrovic

Jake Oettinger

Casey DeSmith

Jordan Spence Paired With Thomas Chabot Again As Senators Host Dallas Stars

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