Hoffman a familiar foe for Senators
Once upon a time, Mike Hoffman was the offensive flavour of the day in Ottawa.
When his stick was on fire, he was hard to slow down, but he also had extended slumps.
It has been a similar story in Florida, where he has scored once in his past four games.
Ottawa’s Anthony Duclair, meanwhile, should be in the running for one of the NHL’S three stars of the week after scoring five goals — including the hat trick and game winner in Saturday’s 4-3 win over Columbus — along with one assist in the Senators’ three contests.
Duclair’s 18 goals puts him in a tie for ninth in the NHL.
Hoffman has 12 goals and 23 points in 32 games. Here are five other things to watch for when the Senators (14-17-2) line up against the Panthers (15-12-5) in Florida on Monday:
1 Blueline survival If defenceman Nikita Zaitsev is unable to play for the Senators, veterans Thomas Chabot, Mark Borowiecki and Ron Hainsey will need to shoulder big loads. It could be a tough test for recent Belleville call-ups Max Lajoie and Andreas Englund.
2 Angry Panthers Florida coach Joel Quenneville put his team through their paces Sunday, upset at the club’s work ethic and slow starts during a three-game losing skid. Expect the Panthers to come out hungry.
3 Nilsson or Hogberg? It’s likely the Senators will stick with red-hot goaltender Anders Nilsson, who bailed out his team in the third period of Saturday’s overtime victory over Columbus, but coach D.J. Smith says both goaltenders will play on the road trip.
4 Keep special teams going The Senators have scored power play goals in back-to-back games, including the Duclair overtime winner Saturday. The Panthers, meanwhile, have numerous forwards with a history of power play success and they’re ranked seventh in the NHL on home ice.
5 On or off Bobrovsky? Sergei Bobrovsky, signed to a seven-year, Us$70-million contract, has had an inconsistent opening couple of months in Florida. He wasn’t on the ice for Sunday’s workout, in what likely was a rest day in preparation for facing the Sens. Bobrovsky is 11-9 with a 3.14 goals-against average.