Game 46 Preview and Open Thread: Ottawa Senators @ New Jersey Devils

It's been almost 18 hours since last night's thrilling comeback win by your Ottawa Senators, and I'm still buzzing. I suspect I'm not alone. I've been luxuriating in the extended ten minute highlight video all morning:

How do you follow-up a game like that? By turning around and beating one of the East's top teams in the New Jersey Devils, that's how. Indeed, the Sens will be riding high but if their projected foe isn't challenge enough, a 1pm EST start, on the second of a back-to-back, with travel, kind of reads like a schedule loss. It's a good thing that this version of the Sens doesn't seem to know when to quit.

Meanwhile, the Devils are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers – their third consecutive defeat. They're comfortably in a play-off spot for now, but you have to believe they'll be highly motivated to stay in that 2/3 slot and out of the wildcard.

Game Notes:

-With such an early start, we don't have much information about today's line-ups. That said, Anton Forsberg is expected to get the start for the Sens. Jake Allen played yesterday for the Devils, so we should Jakob Markstrom in net.

-Josh Norris has had a bit of a funny season. On the one hand, he's struggled to drive play at 5v5 and at one point was demoted to the third line. On the other hand, he's up to 17 goals and is on a 31 goal pace after last night's two tally performance. When his shot is clicking on the PP, he's Ottawa's most dangerous weapon. I don't have a neat concluding statement here, just that Norris, like so many of us, is a land of contrasts.

-The Devils, much like the Sens, are quite top-heavy when it comes to their goal-scoring. If you want to beat New Jersey, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt must be stopped. That's easier said than done, and Nico Hischier and Timo Meier are no slouches in their own right, but it starts with that top line.

-Puck Drop is 1pm EST, and you can watch on TSN5/RDS, or listen on TSN1200 or Unique 94.5 FM

Stats: