Game 28 Hub: Ducks @ Senators

It's incredible that it's December 11th and the Ottawa Senators have yet to win three straight games in a row. They've come close, and it should have happened on Sunday, yet they were unable to get the job done on Sunday against the New York Islanders despite allowing just 13 shots. The Senators have to move on though and try to start a new winning streak, starting tonight with the Anaheim Ducks.

Ottawa lost in Anaheim in a shootout (3-2) last Sunday, and there's no way they should be losing to them yet again in such a short period. The Ducks have a 10-12-4 record and a -15 goal differential, so anything but a win tonight would be another disappointment. Here are the projected lines from yesterday, with Linus Ullmark starting:

And here is the project Anaheim lineup, per The Hockey Writers, with Leo Carlsson back in the lineup after injury:

Game Notes:

• It's unclear if John Gibson or Lukas Dostal will start (Dostal is looking more likely), although Dostal has been much better (.921 SV% vs. .909 SV%). Since Gibson has come back from an injury, he has started 8/13 games.
• It'll be interesting to see if/when Nikolas Matinpalo ever draws into the lineup because he was sent down again today. He played just four games last season and I'm intrigued to at least see what he can do. It won't happen just yet though.
• Adam Gaudette stays in the top-6, and for good reason after scoring last game. He played 17:06 on Sunday after having just 9:31 and 8:00 the previous two games, which seems far too low for their tied leading goal scorer.
• Josh Norris has three goals in his last three games and looks much more comfortable so I'm happy to see him being trusted.
• The Ducks are 2-4-2 over their last 8 games, although one of those wins is against the Senators.
• Jacob Trouba will be playing in his second game for Anaheim, and he'll join the Ducks defense with Radko Gudas so Senators forwards have to be keeping their head up tonight. I still can't believe the Ducks took on all of Trouba's $8M contract and had to move assets out too. I feel for Trouba too, that can't be easy being the captain of a team in a huge market for a good team and then essentially being told to get out.

Stats: