Tim Stützle shifts to wing for an important early matchup against Connor McDavid and the slumping Oilers.
The Ottawa Senators (2-4) host the Edmonton Oilers (2-3-1) on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre in a battle of two clubs trying to figure themselves out in the early going. The Oilers are at the end of a five-game road trip and have lost their last three in a row. The Senators are coming off a disappointing 5–4 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night and have dropped four of their last five games.
This will be the only visit of the season by Connor McDavid, probably the game’s most exciting player, who's still looking for his first goal of the season. That said, he still leads the club in points with 7 assists.
Meanwhile, the Senators’ most exciting player is off to a sluggish start with just 4 points, and he'll also be adjusting to a new role. Tim Stützle is still on the top line, but head coach Travis Green is trying a little mad science for this one, moving Stützle over to left wing beside center Dylan Cozens and right winger Drake Batherson.
Green experimented with the idea on Saturday and obviously liked how it looked when they generated two quick goals. Stützle played almost exclusively on the wing in his first NHL season in 2020–21, but from his sophomore season onward, he’s almost always been a center.
That means Shane Pinto — who’s still tied for the NHL goal-scoring lead with seven — moves up a rung to official second-line center duty with Claude Giroux and Michael Amadio on his wings. Ridly Greig, who’s been primarily a winger since arriving in the NHL, will return to his natural center position on what should be a fairly prickly line with Nick Cousins and David Perron. Lars Eller will center the fourth line between Olle Lycksell and Fabian Zetterlund.
It marks some of the most dramatic forward line shuffling that Green has done in his time as Sens head coach. That's the kind of things that happens when you lose your star left winger to a thumb injury. Following surgery last week, Brady Tkachuk is expected back in 5-7 weeks.
It also looks like defenseman Jordan Spence, who has four points in as many games this season, will be a healthy scratch. He was an extra defenseman during the morning skate, so Nikolas Matinpalo is expected to draw into the lineup alongside Tyler Kleven — the duo that was together for the Sens’ entire playoff run last spring. Matinpalo hasn't played since the Sens got pounded 6-2 in Florida ten days ago.
Spence's seat in the press box may also be serving as a timeout chair. With the game tied at 4, Spence had a painful giveaway with just over a minute left on Saturday night, which led directly to the Islanders' game-winning goal.
The Senators have done some roster shuffling since their last outing, sending backup goalie Leevi Meriläinen down to the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League, along with winger Arthur Kaliyev. In their spots on Tuesday night will be winger Olle Lycksell and goaltender Mads Søgaard, who were both recalled in the past couple of days.
The Oilers have some imminent milestones on their schedule. Forward Adam Henrique will be playing in his 1,000th career game, while goalie Stuart Skinner will be looking for his 100th career victory. Edmonton also gets defenseman Jake Walman back on Tuesday to make his season debut after suffering an undisclosed injury in the preseason. Walman just signed a seven-year, $49 million extension two weeks ago.
Senators Projected Lineup
Tim Stützle – Dylan Cozens – Drake Batherson
Michael Amadio – Shane Pinto – Claude Giroux
Nick Cousins – Ridly Greig – David Perron
Olle Lycksell – Lars Eller – Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot – Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven – Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Mads Søgaard
Oilers Projected Lineup (NHL.com)
Draisaitl – McDavid - Podkolzin
Mangiapane – Nugent-Hopkins - Roslovic
Savoie – Philp - Frederic
Howard – Henrique - Tomasek
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Walman
Kulak - Emberson
Skinner
Pickard
Faceoff is 7:00 p.m. on TSN5, RDS. In an interesting broadcast note, former Senators head coach Paul MacLean will make his debut as an analyst on TSN.
More Sens headlines at the Hockey News Ottawa:
Senators Surprisingly Send Merilainen to Belleville After One Start
Travis Green Offers Blunt Criticism After Disappointing Islanders Loss
Tkachuk Has Successful Thumb Surgery And Will Miss 6-8 Weeks
Sens Call Up Kaliyev As Tkachuk Goes On IR
Senators Lose Sebrango, Claimed Off Waivers By Florida
An Early Glance At The Senators' Goaltending Pipeline