The Senators get back to Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night with a chance to keep pace in a standings race that already feels crowded. Ottawa and the Utah Mammoth arrive with matching 10-6-1 records and 21 points, setting up the first meeting between the clubs this season.
For the Senators, the timing matters. They’re coming off a 2-1 win in Buffalo on Thursday, a game that flipped late when Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio scored in the third period to turn a 1-0 deficit into two points.
Samuel Ersson handled the rest, stopping 24 shots and continuing a strong bounce-back after a shaky start to his Senators tenure. He’s won back-to-back starts while giving up just two goals, and he’ll get another turn in goal Saturday night.
Ottawa’s place in the East leaves little breathing room. The Senators sit as the top wild card team, and the picture around them is already tight. The top three Atlantic teams - Boston, Montreal, and Tampa Bay - all have points percentages of .713 or better.
Utah comes in after a very different kind of night, dropping a wild 5-4 overtime decision to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. Even in the loss, Logan Cooley kept rolling.
He scored his second hat trick in four games, and 10 of his 11 goals have come in the last seven games. He’s not the only dangerous piece in Utah’s attack, either.
The Mammoth are the only team in the league with four players already at the 20-point mark.
Clayton Keller leads the way with 22 points, while Nick Schmaltz has 20 after once posting a seven-point game against the Senators. Mikhail Sergachev has also been a major storyline for Utah, sitting fourth among NHL defencemen with 20 points and tracking toward a career year.
Ottawa has one 20-point player of its own in Tim Stützle, who has 22 points and nine goals through 17 games. Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson are also producing at a point-per-game clip for the Senators.
There are still some moving parts on the Ottawa side. Linus Ullmark took part in Friday’s practice but remains unavailable as he works back from a lower-body injury, so Ersson will start again with Jonas Johansson backing him up.
Ridly Greig is also out with a lower-body issue and is day to day. Tyler Kleven missed Wednesday’s game but was a full participant in Friday’s practice, and head coach Travis Green mentioned a couple of game-time decisions without naming them.
Utah’s injury list is not short, either. Defenceman Nate Schmidt was hurt against Montreal and joins John Marino and Maveric Lamoureux on the shelf. Forward Kailer Yamamoto is also unavailable.
The Senators’ projected lineup has Nick Cousins with Tim Stützle and Fabian Zetterlund on the top line, followed by Philip Tomasino, Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson. Michael Amadio, Dylan Cozens and Claude Giroux are expected together on the third unit, with Samuel Blais, Stephen Halliday and Hayden Hodgson on the fourth. The blue line is projected to feature Jake Sanderson with Artem Zub, Thomas Chabot with Jordan Spence, and Tyler Kleven with Carter Yakemchuk or Nikolas Matinpalo.
Utah’s projected forwards are Anders Lee, Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller; Logan Cooley, Vincent Trocheck and Lawson Crouse; Jack McBain, Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther; and Michael Carcone, Kevin Stenlund and Liam O’Brien. On defence, the Mammoth are projected to go with Mikhail Sergachev and Mackenzie Weegar, Artem Duda and Andrew Peeke, and Dmitri Simashev and Nick DeSimone. Karel Vejmelka and Sebastian Cossa are listed as the goaltenders.
Saturday also brings Alumni Night to Ottawa, with the club welcoming back several former players. A group that included Craig Anderson, Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Wade Redden, Shaun Van Allen, Jason York, Brian McGrattan, Shean Donovan, Jesse Winchester, Dean McAmmond, Laurie Boschman and Scott Greenham took part in a Battle of Ontario alumni game in Peterborough on Friday night, while Chris Phillips and Peter Schaefer were behind the bench.
The night will also mark Shane Pinto’s 300th career NHL game.
In Other News...
Senators Face A Carter Yakemchuk Decision That Could Shape Their Blue Line
Tyler Klevens return has given Ottawa a healthier look on the back end, but it has also created one of those early-season roster puzzles that can linger for weeks. Travis Green now has to decide how to handle Carter Yakemchuk, a young defender whose offensive upside is obvious enough to keep him in the conversation, even as his positioning and puck management have made his learning curve hard to ignore.
The Senators have options, and none of them are simple. Green can keep Yakemchuk in the mix, shift him in and out with Nikolas Matinpalo, or consider a longer developmental reset with Belleville if the growing pains start to outweigh the flashes. For now, Yakemchuk is getting the nod as Ottawa faces the Utah Mammoth, which at least buys the club a little more time before the bigger blue-line decision comes due. [Read more 🡒]
MacKenzie Weegar Was Almost Headed Somewhere Else Before Calgary Dealt Him
MacKenzie Weegars path out of Calgary had a very different landing spot in mind before the Flames finally moved him. Ottawa was in the mix at one point, but the Senators never had the pieces needed to complete a deal, leaving the veteran defenseman to wait for another opening as the trade market kept shifting around him.
When the move finally came on March 4, 2024, it sent Weegar to Utah, where he quickly settled into a top-four role and later locked in his future with the Mammoth through the 2030-31 season. For Utah, it was a major add on the blue line. For Ottawa, it was another reminder of how close a team can get to a difference-making defenseman without quite having the assets to finish the job. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Face A Goalie Decision As Another Lineup Concern Grows
The Senators are heading into their matchup with the Utah Mammoth carrying a couple of lineup questions, and both sit in spots that matter. Ridly Greig is dealing with a lower-body injury, while Tyler Kleven has gotten back on the ice after missing the previous game with an illness, giving Ottawa at least one encouraging sign as it prepares to host Utah.
The bigger uncertainty is in net, where the club is still sorting through Linus Ullmarks status after he continued to progress in practice. Ottawa has not had much time to settle the crease situation with another game on deck, and with Greig likely unavailable, the Senators could be forced to adjust both up front and in goal before puck drop. [Read more 🡒]