Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa Senators: Saturday NHL preview
Erik Karlsson and the Sens host Leafs in all-Atlantic Division battle.
By Mark ZwolinskiSports reporter
Fri., Jan. 13, 2017
https://www.thestar.com/sports/leaf...-at-ottawa-senators-saturday-nhl-preview.html
CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE
FACEOFF: 7 p.m.
TV: CBC
RADIO: Sportsnet 590 The FAN
KEY PLAYERS
Rielly/Karlsson
A meeting between two top offensive-minded defenceman. Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson will play in his fifth NHL all-star game and leads the Senators in points (34), assists (27) and average ice time (27:06, though a season-low 21:36 in a big win over Pittsburgh on Thursday). He has also embraced coach Guy Boucher’s defensive game plan, the key to the Senators’ rise in the Atlantic Division. Leaf Morgan Rielly had 16 assists in 39 games heading into Friday night, but just one goal.
NEED TO KNOW
Both clubs are in the playoff hunt in the Atlantic Division. . . . The Senators need to get more from big winger Bobby Ryan, benched recently for undisclosed reasons. Ryan, Ottawa’s highest-paid player at $7.25 million, has eight goals and seven assists in 34 games and is off the top power-play unit, where Kyle Turris and Mark Stone have started to click. Ryan had four 30-goal seasons in Anaheim and posted 22 last season with the Senators. … Goalie Mike Condon, acquired from the Penguins in November, has started the past five games. . . . The Sens are a very respectable 13-6-4 on home ice.
UP NEXT
Tuesday vs. Buffalo Sabres, 7:30 p.m.
Game Day: Maple Leafs at Senators
By Mike Zeisberger, Toronto Sun
http://www.torontosun.com/2017/01/14/game-day-maple-leafs-at-senators
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at OTTAWA SENATORS
Saturday, 7 p.m., Canadian Tire Centre,
TV: CBC; Radio: 590 AM
THE BIG MATCHUP
Auston Matthews vs. Erik Karlsson
Karlsson is a two-time winner of the Norris Trophy, but he certainly didn’t look like one of the league’s top defencemen when Matthews blew by him en route to his second of four goals during opening night in October. No matter what kind of matchup Sens coach Guy Boucher plans for Matthews since Ottawa has the last change, Karlsson is a minutes-gobbler who, sooner or later, will face the Leafs rookie. Let’s see how it works out this time.
