Despite a slew of injuries to defensemen, the Ottawa Senators prepare to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night on a four-game winning streak.
The Senators have also won six of their last seven. Those runs have propelled Ottawa (38-24-9, 85 points) into the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Senators are also 15-3-2 since January 25.
Ottawa is without rearguards Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen as well as rookies Lassi Thomson and Dennis Gilbert, who were called up because of the original injuries.
Defensemen Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan made their NHL debuts in Tuesday night’s 3-2 road win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Yakemchuk, the seventh overall pick in the 2024 draft, made an immediate impact with a goal and an assist.
“I’m proud of both of them,” Senators’ coach Travis Green said. “We got a big game from (Yakemchuk). He’s a special player, and I thought (Donovan) did what we needed him to do.”
Yakemchuk was plus-2 with two shots, two blocks, two giveaways and a takeaway in 12:46, while Donovan played 4:42 with one shot.
“This was a really special night,” Yakemchuk said. “It was awesome to be a part of this win.”
His parents were in the stands after making the trip from Alberta.
“This isn’t a normal first NHL game, it is more like a first game in the playoffs,” said Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk, who had a goal and an assist. “Yakemchuk and (Donovan) were both amazing.”
Tkachuk’s goal was his 20th.
It was Ottawa’s second victory in two nights. The Senators defeated the host New York Rangers 2-1 on Monday night, holding the Rangers to only 10 shots.
“This was a gutsy, gutsy game,” Green said after Tuesday night’s contest. “We came in after playing last night to face a rested team and found a way to win.”
The Penguins (35-20-16, 86 points) also occupy an Eastern Conference playoff spot but have lost their last two and three of four (1-2-1).
The most recent loss was 6-2 to the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
“I don’t really think the score really reflected how we felt throughout the game,” Pittsburgh defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “I don’t think we played bad today. Obviously, we didn’t play good enough to win either. We played one of the best teams in the league, if not the best team. That just showed today.”
The Penguins have been outscored 11-3 in their last two losses.
Fellow Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang reached 800 points with an assist on Tuesday while Egor Chinakhov and Rickard Rakell got the goals.
“We definitely had a lot of good looks today,” Rakell said. “We couldn’t get it done. It was very frustrating. We’ve just got to regroup and move on to the next one.”
Chinakhov has goals in three straight games and five points in his last five games. Sidney Crosby is on a four-game point streak (one goal, four assists) since returning from his lower-body injury sustained during the Olympics.
Evgeni Malkin did not play in Tuesday night’s game because of an upper-body injury. He is day-to-day and did not practice on Wednesday.
Neither did Anthony Mantha, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He has 26 goals and 53 points in 71 games.
–Field Level Media
