Game 19 Preview: Detroit Red Wings @ Ottawa Senators

Drake Batherson makes his NHL debut against an Original 6 squad

After a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Florida Panthers, the Ottawa Senators (7-8-3) look to rebound in a divisional matchup against the Detroit Red Wings (8-8-2).

Ottawa has had four days to mentally reset from their last outing, while the Wings are riding a four-game winning streak. They are coming off an impressive 6-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30ET, and you can catch this one on TSN5, RDS2, and Fox Sports for our friends south of the border.

The Senators will be going 12-6 tonight, with Max McCormick and Christian Jaros having a seat in the press box as healthy scratches. Craig Anderson will make his 16th start of the young season.

Here are the expected lines and pairing for the Sens tonight:

Game Notes

  • Senators rookie Drake Batherson makes his NHL debut tonight. He has been red-hot in Belleville thus far, posting 20 points in 14 games. Boucher playing him with Duchene shows he has faith in the young gun, and he’ll get a great opportunity to shine tonight.
  • It’s Hockey Fights Cancer Night, so make sure to wear pink if you’re heading to CTC for tonight’s contest.
  • Zack Smith returns to the lineup tonight, for the first time since suffering a facial fracture in Colorado.
  • Info on Detroit, including their lineup for tonight, can be found at our sister blog Wingin’ it in Motown
  • Colin White is good to go after leaving the game against Florida early, it’ll be exciting to watch what he can do with Tkachuk and Stone. That’s a nice-looking line.
  • Ryan Dzingel is on a four-game scoring streak, so let’s see if he can keep that up tonight. Though on a line with Tierney and Ryan, that may be a difficult ask.
  • It’s a Thursday. It’s a home game. So Ottawa will be wearing their Centennial jerseys 😍/

As always, here are some stats, courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick:

Team Stats

CategoryOttawaSenatorsMinnesotaWild
--ValueRankValueRank
Goals/GP3.571st3.1016th
Goals Against/GP4.1931st2.677th
Shots/GP30.123rd31.516th
Shots Against/GP38.031st31.113th
Powerplay %25.07th21.712th
Penalty Kill %68.231st84.93rd
Corsi (5v5, Score & Venue Adjusted)42.9230th49.3919th
Fenwick (5v5, SVA)43.6530th40.4515th

Player Stats

OttawaSenatorsMinnesotaWild
--Player#Player#
GoalsMatt Duchene10Mikael Granlund10
AssistsThomas Chabot19Mikko Koivu14
PointsMatt Duchene27Mikael Granlund19
ShotsThomas Chabot62Matt Dumba67
TOI/GPThomas Chabot23:27Ryan Suter25:53

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