The Ottawa Senators will continue their pursuit of an Eastern Conference playoff spot on Tuesday night in Buffalo, facing a Sabres team that’s given them nothing but trouble this season.
Barring a miracle finish, the Sabres are wobbling toward an NHL record 14th consecutive season without making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they could have fooled Ottawa. Buffalo has had the Senators’ number this season, defeating them 5-1 in November and 4-0 in January.
The Sens have had a couple of days off, but none of the Eastern wild-card hopefuls in the gooey clump behind them in the standings was able to cut into their lead. As they were after Saturday’s 3-2 win in New Jersey, the Senators are five points above the current playoff cut line in the East. The Montreal Canadiens are the second wild card, four points behind Ottawa.
Tuesday will be a homecoming for Sens centre Dylan Cozens, playing in Buffalo for the first time since being traded to the Senators on deadline day. Cozens told the media he expected it will be “a little weird,” but he’s trying to treat it as just another game.
The Workhorse from Whitehorse was traded with defenceman Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round draft pick for Josh Norris and Jacob Bernard-Docker. Bernard-Docker waited 15 days before finally making his Sabre debut on Saturday in Minnesota. He then posted two assists on Sunday, a 5-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, marking the first multi-point game of JBD’s NHL career.
As for Norris, he’s missed the last five Buffalo games due to an undisclosed injury and will be out again on Tuesday against his former team. His homecoming, if they can put him back together by then, could come on April 1st when the Sabres visit Ottawa.
Norris’ injury after just three games as a Sabre has only served to amplify the immediate concerns Buffalo fans had about the trade. According to TSN1200, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed to the media on Tuesday that Norris brought this injury with him from Ottawa.
That won’t do much to tone down the grumbling.
Acquiring a long-term, expensive player who has been as injury-prone as any player in the NHL would usually come with the belief/hope that the player’s injury troubles are behind him. In this case, the Sabres appear to have taken on Norris, knowing he wasn’t healthy at the time of the trade.
On the bright side, Norris says he’s starting to feel better, though he couldn’t put a timeline on a return date.
“It’s slow progress, but yeah, feeling better, and hopefully I’ll be back soon,” Norris told the media on Tuesday. “It’s just something I’ve been dealing with for a little while this year, and I kind of re-aggravated it. So, I’m just being smart about it.”
Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams clearly made this deal for next season and beyond. With just 13 games left in a lost season, they’d be well served to shut Norris down until the fall.
The Senators held an optional game day skate on Tuesday morning, and as per TSN 1200, only a few players participated: goalie Linus Ullmark, who will back up Anton Forsberg on Tuesday night; Artem Zub; Dennis Gilbert; Nick Jensen; and Brady Tkachuk.
Jensen and Tkachuk have both been dealing with nagging injuries for some time. Jensen hasn’t played since March 13th against the Boston Bruins, while Tkachuk played on Saturday in New Jersey. However, his ice time was well below his season average, and he was held out of practice on Monday.
Forsberg will start against James Reimer, who was fantastic on Sunday against the Jets. Optimus Reim has also given the Senators fits over the years with a record of 17-6-4 and a .924 save percentage.
Senators Projected Lineup (NHL.com)
- Brady Tkachuk – Tim Stutzle – Fabian Zetterlund
- David Perron – Dylan Cozens – Drake Batherson
- Ridly Greig – Shane Pinto – Claude Giroux
- Matthew Highmore – Adam Gaudette – Michael Amadio
Defence
- Jake Sanderson – Travis Hamonic
- Thomas Chabot – Artem Zub
- Tyler Kleven – Nikolas Matinpalo
Goalies
- Anton Forsberg
- Linus Ullmark
Scratched
- Dennis Gilbert
Injured
- Nick Cousins (knee)
- Nick Jensen (lower body)
Sabres Projected Lineup
- Zach Benson – Jiri Kulich – Tage Thompson
- JJ Peterka – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn
- Jason Zucker – Peyton Krebs – Alex Tuch
- Beck Malenstyn – Tyson Kozak – Isak Rosen
Defence
- Mattias Samuelsson – Rasmus Dahlin
- Bowen Byram – Connor Clifton
- Owen Power – Jacob Bernard-Docker
Goalies
- James Reimer
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Scratched
- Jacob Bryson
Injured
- Jordan Greenway (lower body)
- Josh Norris (middle body)
- Sam Lafferty (groin
By Steve Warne
Site Editor at The Hockey News Ottawa
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