Kings at Senators
The Ottawa Senators are dealing with a loss of manpower heading into Saturday afternoon's game against the visiting Los Angeles Kings. The Senators will need to find answers after seeing last season's co-leading goal scorer Ryan Dzingel (lower body), promising rookie forward Alex Formenton (concussion) and defenseman Cody Ceci (upper body) placed on injured reserve Friday.
"There are a lot of fallen soldiers around here, but that's the way it goes," Ottawa forward Mikkel Boedker said Friday. "We've got to have a next man up mentality." The Senators dropped their second straight contest with a 7-4 setback versus Philadelphia on Wednesday, but that offense is expected to take a hit due to injury heading into a tilt against Jack Campbell, who turned aside all 40 shots he faced in Los Angeles' 3-0 win over Montreal on Thursday. A former first-round pick, Campbell has yielded just four goals in three games after being pressed into duty with franchise goaltender Jonathan Quick sidelined with a lower-body injury. "Jack's got ability, but he's got a really good attitude and he's got a great work ethic," Kings coach John Stevens said. “He's been all ears trying to get better. If you work that hard, you're going to get better, and I think he's really worked hard at his game to be ready for an opportunity like this."
TV: 2 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE KINGS (2-1-1): Defenseman Dion Phaneuf will begin a tour against his former teams on Saturday with the return to the Canadian Tire Centre before visiting Scotiabank Arena in Toronto two nights later. "I was very lucky to play in three Canadian markets, and two of them are on this trip, so it's nice to get back and it's nice to see some familiar faces," the 33-year-old Phaneuf told the Ottawa Sun. "I've got really good memories here. I wish this organization, as I do Toronto, nothing but success. Being in Ottawa, I was treated very well here, the fans were incredible and I enjoyed living in the city." The Senators acquired Phaneuf in a blockbuster trade with Toronto in February 2016 before joining Nate Thompson in being shuffled to Los Angeles this past February.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (1-2-1): Dzingel, who shared top honors with Matt Duchene after scoring 23 goals in 2017-18, was off on the right foot this season with two goals and two assists in four games. Formenton, 19, registered five shots on goal in his first four contests while Ceci logged nearly 22 minutes of ice time for Ottawa, which recalled forward Nick Paul and defenseman Christian Jaros from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Friday. Paul had just one goal in 11 games with the Senators while the 22-year-old Jaros spent two games with Ottawa in 2017-18.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles C Jeff Carter dented the scoresheet for the first time this season with a goal and two assists against the Canadiens.
2. Ottawa D Ben Harpur will make his season debut on Saturday, per coach Guy Boucher.
3. Kings RW Adrian Kempe, who recorded his first point this season with a goal versus Montreal, scored and set up a goal in two meetings with the Senators last season.