Banged-up Senators host Blackhawks (Jan 09, 2018)
OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators would be more optimistic about ending the first half of their season on a high note if they knew exactly who was going to be playing in the band.
Missing from Monday's practice were center Matt Duchene, who has the flu, as well as centers Derick Brassard and Nate Thompson, plus defensemen Johnny Oduya and Cody Ceci.
Coach Guy Boucher wasn't sure if any of the five would be available for Tuesday's home game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"They could be all out and they could be all in," Boucher said. "It could be half-and-half. I don't know."
While there's a chance defenseman Mark Borowiecki could return from a concussion that has kept him out since November, former first rounder Colin White has already been recalled and is expected to replace Thompson, who played less than two minutes of Saturday's victory over Tampa Bay. More help from the farm could be on the way for the disappointing Senators (14-17-9), who are riding a rare two-game winning streak as they hit the midway pole.
"It's been like this all year, to be honest with you," Boucher said. "Whenever we've had a good stretch of games it's been the same thing, we've had injuries and guys sick. It's been tough to battle all year."
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are still on the outside looking in at the playoff picture as they kick off the second half of their season in Ottawa, and that's despite some recent success with their own injury issues to No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford and veteran center Artem Anisimov.
With a 3-1-1 record that is identical to the Senators run in the last five games, the Blackhawks (20-15-6) listened to a pre-game speech from captain Jonathan Toews before beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 on Sunday.
"He said 'let's treat every game going up to (next week's bye week) as a playoff game'," forward Vinnie Hinostroza told the Chicago Sun-Times. "If we go into it with that mindset and win every period, why can't we go on a little run here before and carry the momentum after the break?"
This will be the first meeting of the season between the Senators and the Blackhawks. Last season, the Senators beat the Blackhawks 4-3 in Chicago while the Blackhawks won 2-1 in Ottawa.
The Senators will stick with Craig Anderson, and not just because he grew up just outside Chicago and started his career with the Blackhawks. Anderson is currently riding his first two-game winning streak since Nov. 10-11, and the Senators really need their No. 1 goalie to get on a roll.
The Blackhawks have not yet announced if they'll go with 32-year old journeyman Jeff Glass, who was a third-round pick of the Senators in 2004, or Anton Forsberg, who made 32 saves against the Oilers to pick up his first win in two months and only the third of his 23-game career.
Coach Joel Quenneville has only said he'll use Forsberg in Ottawa or back home Wednesday, when the Blackhawks host the Minnesota Wild.
