Game 65 Hub: Ottawa Senators @ New York Islanders

The Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders share many similarities: a midseason coaching change, a core group of players having to re-find their identity, and a chance to meet each other on the first of a weekend back-to-back for a matinee affair.

Today will mean more for the Islanders, who sit 14 points ahead of Ottawa and currently occupy the second wild-card spot in the East – tied with Detroit, one point up on Washington, and three points up on Buffalo. The team's new top line of Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, and Mat Barzal, alongside Norris candidate Noah Dobson and star goaltender Ilya Sorokin have kept them in the hunt.

The Senators had an optional practice yesterday, so it was hard to tell if there will be any lineup changes this afternoon. Here's a reminder of how the team lined up against Columbus, with the one expected change being Korpisalo in goal instead of Forsberg:

The Isles have lost two straight, but aren't expected to make any lineup changes after their disastrous 4-0 loss to the Sabres on Thursday other than in net:

Game Notes:

• Puck drop is 1230 on this one! Watch on TSN/RDS or listen on TSN1200
• When compiling the game stats (below), it was interesting to see how the Senators rank ahead of the Islanders in every major category except goals against (based on team save-percentage) and powerplay.
• A big difference? The Islanders have 14 points in overtime or shootout losses; Ottawa has just four.
• Their two injuries have been on the blueline, with Robert Bortuzzo and Scott Mayfield missing games. Bortuzzo was activated overnight but likely won't suit up today, meaning that Ottawa will face ex-Sens rearguard Mike Reilly. Mayfield is still out for a while, and is likely missing on their penalty kill.
• Maxence Guénette played a career high 17:06 against Columbus. Interestingly, that's two straight games with ice-time ahead of Jacob Bernard-Docker. If teams were calling on JBD, like Bruce Garrioch reported after the trade deadline, I would look to move him in the offseason to create space for Guénette – a player who can bring more puck-moving ability.

Stats: