The Ottawa Senators finally have some good news on the injury front.
The Senators will play three games in four days before the National Hockey League’s mandated holiday break begins on Christmas Eve, but the club will receive an early gift under the tree this weekend.
Defenceman Thomas Chabot, who has missed 12 games as a result of a core muscle injury he initially suffered on Nov. 11 against the Dallas Stars, is expected to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon at the Canadian Tire Centre.
If he doesn’t, then he’ll face the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Senators may not want to bring him back with back-to-back games on the schedule.
The Senators sent defenceman Dennis Gilbert to their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville on Friday. The NHL’s Christmas roster freeze will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. (local time) on Friday night and will stay in place until 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 28.
Chabot had returned 10 days after initially suffering the injury to face the San Jose Sharks, but reinjured himself at the end of the game. Since then, the Senators have been taking every precaution to ensure that when Chabot is back, this doesn’t become an issue that will hinder him for the rest of the season.
His return will help ease some of the strain on Jake Sanderson, who leads the club in ice time with 25 minutes and 14 seconds per game. Chabot is second with 21:55.
“We miss him a lot,” Sanderson said on Friday. “He’s a guy that plays a lot of minutes for us and plays in every situation. Whenever he’s back, we’re going to be fired up to have him.”
The question is: Who comes out with Chabot ready to play?
Everybody has stepped up in his absence and some of the defenders have had to play bigger roles.
Two candidates are Nikolas Matinpalo and Jordan Spence because they were in and out of the lineup before Chabot got hurt. Many believe it will be Matinpalo because he has been playing on the opposite side with Chabot out, but the Senators didn’t have a full skate on Friday.
The club could opt to play seven defencemen, but that seems unlikely.
Getting Chabot back helps the club’s alignment on the back end. He has been partnered with Nick Jensen for the most part this season and it wouldn’t be a surprise if coach Travis Green opted to go this route.
That would mean Tyler Kleven would slide back to the third pairing with Spence or Matinpalo. The Senators depth has been put to the test without Chabot, but this is a positive step.
Coming off a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Senators are coming off one of their best performances of the season. This club has often discussed playing for 60 minutes, but that hasn’t always been the case and they were able to do so against the Penguins.
But this year is about ‘what have you done for me lately,’ and that was the club’s first win at home since Nov. 13 after losing four straight at the Canadian Tire Centre.
All 16 teams in the Eastern Conference have a points percentage that is .500 or better. The Senators went into Friday night’s action three points out of the final wild-card spot, which means the only choice is to keep winning if the club wants to get back in the picture before the break.
The Senators need to bring another complete game against the Hawks, who don’t have injured top centre Connor Bedard. Ottawa has struggled to find consistency.
“We’ve just got to follow it up,” Sanderson said. “We played great last night. Our forwards did a great job in the offensive zone, just hunting their defence and managing pucks.”
The victory over the Penguins was the club’s first shutout of the season, thanks to a 23-save effort by Linus Ullmark.
“Really good, really confident, really calm,” centre Tim Stutzle said about Ullmark’s effort. “Really fun to watch.”
Ullmark will split the duties with backup Leevi Merilainen this weekend because of the back-to-back situation.
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The Senators best players were at the top of their game against the Penguins and that was the difference. Captain Brady Tkachuk scored twice, Drake Batherson had two assists, and Stutzle recorded his 10th point in five games.
That’s what this club needs to be successful, especially from Stutzle.
“(Stutzle) had a stretch where he didn’t get any points, and that always plays on the mind of a player who is as good as Timmy,” Green said. “He’s simplified a little bit. He’s played a little more straight line, shooting the puck and he’s been physical.
“Sometimes when you play well away from the puck, good things happen and he’s a good example of that.”