The Ottawa Senators are gearing up for the playoffs as they prepare for their penultimate game of the regular season on Tuesday against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
To that end, captain Brady Tkachuk practiced with his Ottawa teammates — in a non-contact jersey — on Monday for the first time since sustaining an upper-body against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30.
Senators coach Travis Green believes Tkachuk, who has 29 goals and 55 points in 71 games, will be ready to play when the playoffs begin on April 19. Ottawa (44-30-6, 94 points) has clinched the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot and will play either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
“He has to (practice),” Green said of Tkachuk. “If you want to be on top of your game after you’ve been out … he’s no different than any other player, you’ve got to come back and get some practice time. He’s skated on his own for a bit now and it’s good to get him with the group. I thought he looked sharp.”
The contest against the Blackhawks on Tuesday will be the eighth straight that Ottawa will play without Tkachuk.
The Senators have won five of their last six after earning a 4-3 overtime home win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle scored his second goal of the game 1:40 into OT. Stutzle also had an assist, giving him 75 points (23 goals, 52 assists) in 80 games.
“Like a lot of our guys, he’s matured a lot,” Green said of Stutzle, 23. “And he’s a little bit different, they’re all a little bit different, but he’s a highly offensive player and he’s still very young. So he’s still learning what his offensive capabilities are and still getting checked hard from other teams.
“We’re just scratching the surface; I don’t think guys reach their peak until probably 25, 26, 27, somewhere in there. And that’s exciting for not only him, but for a few other guys as well.”
The game at Ottawa will be the season finale for the Blackhawks (24-46-11, 59 points), who are 3-1-1 in their last five after registering a 4-3 shootout win against the host Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
“(The Canadiens) needed to win this game to secure a playoff spot, so you know that they’re going to come out hard,” said Chicago’s Frank Nazar, who had a goal and an assist and scored the only goal of the shootout. “We knew that, so we just prepared and had a routine going into the game, a plan.”
Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Reichel also scored for the Blackhawks and Arvid Soderblom made 18 saves before denying all three Montreal attempts in the shootout. Chicago led 3-2 with three minutes left before the Canadiens tied it.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “That to me shows growth in our group, right? To get them to score one late and come back and find a way to get the win in the shootout, it’s exciting for our group.”
–Field Level Media
