Game Day Five: Senators at Panthers, Oct. 29

The Senators travel to Florida to take on the Panthers for the first of four matchups this season.

The set-up

The Senators travel to Fort Lauderdale for the first of a pair of road games against the Florida teams. Though neck and neck in the standings, these two are coming into today’s game in vastly different form. The Senators are coming off a strong homestand taking four of the five games with a plus nine goal differential in that stretch. The Panthers have lost three of their last four for a minus three goal differential.

While the Panthers are looking to return to their spot atop the NHL standings from last season, the Senators are looking to make that next step towards making the playoffs for the first time since 2017. One key piece to that puzzle was the offseason signing of Claude Giroux who finished last season as a member of the Panthers. Look for this game to set the tone for what to expect from these two clubs during the season series this year.

Roster notes

News came out yesterday morning that defenseman Artem Zub sustained an injury in the game against Minnesota and will be out for a week or two. With that news the Senators called up Dillon Heatherington from Belleville to fill out their depth.

With the timing of the move Nikita Zaitsev and Nick Holden are likely to hold the spots in the defensive pairings. Since Artem Zub and Thomas Chabot were both off the ice today we and there is no morning practice we won’t know who is lining up in which pairing until puck drop. 

Below is how the Senators lined up during the game against Minnesota: 

Forwards:

Tkachuk – Stützle – Batherson

DeBrincat – Brassard – Giroux

Motte – Pinto – Joseph

Kelly – Kastelic – Watson

Gambrell

Defense:

Chabot – Zub

Sanderson – Hamonic

Brannstrom – Zaitsev

Holden

Past history

Saturday will mark the 107th meeting between the Senators and the Panthers. Currently the Senators hold the all-time series lead at 56-47 with three additional ties. However, Florida has taken considerable hold over the series since 2019 winning eight of the last ten games. 

Who to watch

Forward Alex DeBrincat is finding his groove with the Senators tallying at least one point in his last six games including a goal and an assist in the Senators last game against Minnesota. DeBrincat easily could have tallied two or three goals in that game if not for some big saves from Marc-Andre Fleury.

DeBrincat’s goal against Minnesota marked his first goal of the season that wasn’t an empty netter. Last season he tallied 41 goals, his second 40-plus goal season of his career. Often times when big time goal scorers like DeBrincat get that first goal to go in it opens the flood gates. Look for DeBrincat to build off of his six game point streak and try to make it back-to-back games with a goal. 

Where to watch

Saturday’s game can be seen live on TSN5 and TVAS2 at 4 p.m. Fans can also tune into the radio call on TSN 1200 and Unique FM 94,5