To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
That’s the challenge the Ottawa Senators will face as they close out their trip through the Sunshine State with a Saturday night game against the two-time defending Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers at the Amerant Bank Arena.
Coming off a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the season opener on Thursday night, the Senators may also be bolstered by the return of winger Drake Batherson, who missed that contest after pulling a muscle in practice on Sept. 24.Batherson told reporters before he left Ottawa on Tuesday that he wouldn’t face the Lightnint, but hadn’t ruled out a return to the lineup against the Panthers, and, even if he didn’t play Saturday, he would be ready for the home opener against the Nashville Predators on Monday.
Getting Batherson back would give head coach Travis Green and his staff more options up front. Michael Amadio was on the right side of Dylan Cozens against the Lightning, but Batherson has good chemistry in that spot with the club’s second-line centre.
You can never have too much depth or too many options, which is why getting Batherson back would be a bonus to start the National Hockey League’s regular season. The Senators won’t have to make a roster move to activate Batherson because they have 22 healthy players.
Facing the Panthers this early will be a good opportunity for the Senators to find out where they stand. They weren’t very good in the first period against the Lightning, but came back from a two-goal deficit in the second period to secure the win.
The Senators locked it down defensively for the final 25 minutes, barely allowing the Bolts a shot on goal. Four of their own five goals came at even strength, and their best players were at the top of their game for the final 40 minutes.
“It was the way we did it,” said captain Brady Tkachuk, who had three assists. “The resilience and the perseverance that we showed. After the first period, it could have gone one of two ways, and the result followed.
“The maturity in our game really showed. There were times in the past when we’d try to make a play at all costs, or, when we’re down 3-1, we need to score, score, score, we need to play our game. We did that and trusted the process and in each other.
It helped that centre Shane Pinto was at the top of his game with two goals and an assist, while defenceman Artem Zub chipped in with a rare three-point effort. You need contributions from everybody, and offence from the defence is never a bad thing.
What will be interesting to watch is how Green uses his goaltenders this weekend. It would be no surprise to see backup Leevi Merilainen make his debut against the Panthers on Saturday, with Linus Ullmark getting the nod versus the Predators at home on Monday.
Ullmark allowed four goals on 25 shots against the Lightning, including two by Nikita Kucherov, whose second score pulled Tampa to within a goal with 14 seconds remaining. That came after it looked like Ottawa’s Claude Giroux had salted this one away with a shot into an empty net.
Merilainen has to make a start at some point, and this game against the Panthers would be the best-case scenario if the Senators want to give him one early.
Not having Ullmark start the home opener would be shades of former coach Dave Cameron using Matt O’Connor ahead of Craig Anderson to start the 2015 campaign.
Merilianen was terrible in the pre-season, but those weren’t NHL lineups, and those games were meaningless. He was solid last season when Ullmark was injured, and Merilainen is expected to play 30-35 games this season, regardless of what happens.
We’ll have to wait to see what happens on the blue-line as well.
Will Spence make his debut against the Panthers?
Matinpalo was minus-1 in just over 13 minutes of ice time. Green likely wanted size in the lineup against the Lightning, and the Panthers are an even more physical challenge.
The first game of what will be a long, difficult season for the Senators is in the books, and it ended with a victory. It was a good start to what the club and its faithful hope will be a great year.
