Game #15 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ Toronto Maple Leafs

The Ottawa Senators continue to be the most enigmatic team in sports, having choked multiple points in the standings through costly mistakes, while also being capable of holding an opposing team without a shot for nearly half a game on the road.

Improved underlying numbers dictate that continuing to play their game will lead to more wins than losses going forward, but with their history, we can't be satisfied with mere projections.

With spots 1, 2, and 8 comfortably locked in the Atlantic Division pecking order, the 7-7-0 Sens are looking to separate themselves from their rivals in the season's first Battle of Ontario. Considering their opponents are the Toronto Maple Leafs, and this is a regular-season hockey game, they're going to have to pull out all the stops to win this one.

Shane Pinto is celebrating his 24th birthday today, hopefully by returning to the lineup after missing eight games with an undisclosed injury. You can't blame the absence of your 3rd-line center for a 3-5-0 record, but his presence would most likely have made a difference in those closer contests against the Rangers and Golden Knights.

We'll update the lines as required, but for now, expect Pinto to replace Zack Ostapchuk in the following, with Tim Stützle and Josh Norris on lines 1 and 2:

Game Notes:

• The Leafs will be without Auston Matthews for the fourth consecutive game – a huge opportunity for the Sens to do what others have done to them in the past three seasons – take advantage of opposing injuries down the middle.
• A lot of players have cooled down amidst the drop in scoring, but Brady Tkachuk has stayed hot with a two-point game against the Bruins, amounting to 5 goals and 5 assists in his last 7 games.
• Linus Ullmark was better against Boston than the numbers showed – he didn't have a chance to make many saves after allowing the second goal, on the back of a stellar defensive effort. It's been a while since he's carried the team to victory, with only the season opener coming to mind. He's due for a monster game at some point.
• The most impressive thing about Nick Jensen has been his physicality in tandem with discipline. Aside from a freak puck-over-glass, he hasn't taken any penalties and was meaner than usual against the Bruins. I'll give Artem Zub a bit of rope since he's only a few games back from injury, but so far Jensen has been Ottawa's best right-shot defenseman. Of the team's 33 even-strength goals, Jensen has been on the ice for 21 of them, 20 of which were alongside Thomas Chabot, who's playing the best hockey of his career right now.
• Tonight's game is set for 7:00 pm EST and is available on RDS, TSN5, TSN4, and TSN 1200.

Stats:

• from NHL.com and NaturalStatTrick.com