Devils at Senators
The Ottawa Senators finally get to play in familiar surroundings when they host the reeling New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in their home opener. Ottawa was winless in four consecutive contests on its season-opening six-game road trip but salvaged the finale with a 4-3 overtime victory in Phoenix on Tuesday night. "We maybe don't feel good about the way we played all those games but it felt good to get some points out of four of those games," Senators coach Paul MacLean said.
New Jersey is well aware of the perils of life away from home as it prepares to wrap up a five-game Canadian road trip. The Devils are winless in four one-goal decisions en route to opening a season with six straight losses for the first time in franchise history, but they can take some solace in the woes of their Metropolitan Division rivals. “Even though we only have three points, look at our division. We’re still in the middle of the pack,” captain Bryce Salvador said.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RSN East (Ottawa), MSG Plus 2 (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (0-3-3): New Jersey has scored only 11 goals in six games - and seven of them came in back-to-back shootout losses. Damien Brunner is the only player with more than two goals for the Devils, who have been hurt by a dismal power play that ranks 29th in the league, converting on 1-of-15 attempts. “We need to shoot more," coach Peter DeBoer said of the man-advantage woes. "When you look around the league, the goals that go in aren’t cute and fancy plays."
ABOUT THE SENATORS (2-2-2): Captain Jason Spezza was limited to five games last season due to injury and scored only twice, but he has doubled that total in five outings this season following his fifth career hat trick at Phoenix. "It felt good to contribute," Spezza said. "It felt good to score some goals especially to put us ahead." The Senators owned the league's top penalty-killing unit last season, but they have not been able to duplicate that success and have already been short-handed 31 times.
OVERTIME
1. Devils G Martin Brodeur, who is 36-23-3 with six shutouts versus Ottawa, will get the start Thursday.
2. The Senators won all three meetings last season, two in a shootout.
3. The Devils placed LW Ryane Clowe on injured reserve Wednesday with a head injury.