The Senators are set to take on the Arizona Coyotes in their series finale on Country Night presented by Pure Country 94 at Canadian Tire Centre. The first 10,000 ans in attendance will be able to claim a Go Sens Go Cowboy Hat on entry while every one will be able to take in the musical stylings of Tim Hicks during the intermissions. Get your tickets here.
The Senators are coming off a tough back-to-back road trip that saw them take losses to the Washington Capitals followed up by the Nashville Predators. In their last game against the Predators the Sens were dealt some tough blows on the injury front finishing the game without Josh Norris, Thomas Chabot, and Travis Hamonic, while Tim Stützle was in discomfort following a collision along the boards in the third period.
All four players were held out of practice yesterday and interim head coach Jacques Martin confirmed that Josh Norris will miss extended time, while Hamonic will be week-to-week. As for Stützle and Chabot were out of practice more for maintenance days than longer concerns. In brighter news, Artem Zub was a participant in practice and is believed to be available tonight after missing the last three with injury.
Prior to the road trip the Senators were playing their best hockey of the season boasting a 10-3-3 record since Jan. 18. Contributions from all four lines leading to the Senators averaging a whopping 3.44 goals per game. With only 25 games remaining in the season and a lot of ground to make up expect the Senators to hold a next man up mentality here as they face a tough challenge ahead and look to regain their footing against a sliding Coyotes team.
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The Coyotes are on the second night of a back-to-back after falling to the Maple Leafs 4-2 in Toronto last night. It's been a tough go for the Coyotes of late currently on a 14-game skid with only two points while being outscored by over two goals per game in that stretch.
However, this Coyotes team proved early this season that they can be a force to be reckoned with, holding a playoff position as recently as Jan. 3. The Sens saw it first hand when the Coyotes dealt them a 4-3 loss on Dec. 29 in Jacques Martin's first game at the helm.
The Coyotes may well be without their biggest star in Clayton Keller who paces the team in goals, assists, and points this season as he's been out day-to-day since sustaining an injury on Feb. 25 against Winnipeg. However, even in Keller's absence the Coyotes have other weapons to lean on. Third year pro, Mattias Maccelli is on pace to set career highs in goals, assists and points, while Nick Schmaltz has had a strong season with 35 points tied with Alex Kerfoot who is having a big impact in his first season in the desert.
With Connor Ingram getting the start in Toronto last night, we anticipate Karel Vejmelka getting the nod tonight.
