Yahoo Sports Ottawa Senators: Josh Norris Expected To Skate Again With Fourth-Line Wingers On Thursday Night
As the Ottawa Senators prepare to host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night for their first home game since mid-December, center Josh Norris will continue to skate alongside hard-working, but less offensively-skilled wingers Nick Cousins and Adam Gaudette.
Sens lines from the morning skate.
Tkachuk-Pinto-Greig
Giroux-Stützle-Batherson
Cousins-Norris-Gaudette
Reinhardt-Ostapchuk-Gregor
Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-Matinpalo
Guenette— TSN 1200 Ottawa (@TSN1200) January 9, 2025
Their line was put together for the game on Tuesday night in Detroit, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Red Wings.
Part of the reasoning for this specific deployment is the recent emergence of the Brady Tkachuk–Shane Pinto–Ridly Greig line. Pinto and Grieg have spent more of the season in the bottom six, but their union with Tkachuk has been quite effective. They haven't exactly lit it up, no one has lately, but they have been high energy, feisty, and dangerous at both ends of the ice.
It's not a stretch to suggest that when everyone is healthy, Cousins and Gaudette are fourth-liners on this team. They've moved up a rung in the batting order due to injuries to Michael Amadio and David Perron. Gaudette's surprising early production initially merited bigger minutes, but he hasn't scored in 12 games, posting just two assists in the process.
As for Norris, he's got one goal in his past six games, and for a player making almost $8 million a year and getting plenty of power-play time, his 22 points in 39 games isn't enough.
"I think the one thing about Josh is he always gives an honest effort," head coach Travis Green told the media on Thursday. "He's reliable. I feel confident putting him on the ice at any moment of the game. And that's the one thing that I don't think has slipped in his game. So the offense will come. But you could probably say that about a few guys."
So Green admits something has slipped with Norris, who's on pace for a 44 point season. Regardless, the coach rarely sticks with specific line combinations for very long. That's partly due to players coming on and off the injury list, and partly because he likes to tinker when things stop working. So Norris will probably have new linemates again before long.
Meanwhile, as we near the midway point of the Senators' season, just having the oft-injured Norris in the lineup every night has been a win. But if the Sens are going to make a playoff push this spring, they now need to expect more out of Norris than good health.
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