Yahoo Sports Ottawa Senators Kick Off 2025 With Key Players Returning From Injury On Thursday Night
After all the gift-giving of the holiday season, returns in early January are common. On Thursday night in Dallas, a couple of Ottawa Senators will be making their returns, and their gift of health was well received back in Ottawa.
Artem Zub will be back to bolster the Senators' blue line, and goalie Anton Forsberg will return to the lineup as the backup behind Leevi Merilainen. Both Zub and Forsberg represent big upgrades on Nikolas Matinpalo and Mads Sogaard, the players from their most recent game who are now coming out of the lineup.
Our projected lines tonight in Dallas 💪#GoSensGo | @UpperDeckSports pic.twitter.com/UT8rPBUPZG
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 2, 2025
With Forsberg's return, Mads Sogaard was sent back to Belleville, where they're in dire need of his services. Merilainen will probably be in Ottawa until Linus Ullmark gets back returns, and Malcolm Subban and Michael Simpson, their 3-4 options are both hurt. Matinpalo remains with Ottawa, a healthy scratch, along with Jacob Bernard-Docker.
Zub has just completed his second stint on the injury list this season. Back on Thanksgiving Day, he gave zero thanks for a fierce open-ice hit from Tanner Jeannot in the Sens' crazy 8-7 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings. Zub suffered a concussion and missed nine games. He then returned for a couple of weeks of action before getting hurt again. This time, it was a foot fracture on Nov. 23.
Forsberg has been out since Dec. 14, when he was injured while warming up for a start against the Pittsburgh Penguins. That not only forced Ullmark to start in back-to-back games, but also forced the Sens to call in an emergency backup goalie.
At the time, the Sens described Forsberg's issue as minor. That was 19 days ago.
The Sens have a back-to-back situation, so they're going to ride the hot hand in Merilainen against Dallas. Since his recall, the 22-year-old has a record of 2-1 and stopped 30 of 31 shots in the victory in Minnesota on Saturday.
They're also going to ease Zub back in, giving him a lighter load. He'll merge back into action on the third pairing with Tyler Kleven on Thursday, so Travis Hamonic will stay for now on Jake Sanderson's right side. The club finished 2024 with a run of 11-4-1 and an impressive win in Minnesota, so head coach Travis Green probably doesn't want to tinker with the defense too much at the moment.
After four days off, it was interesting that, according to TSN 1200, Tim Stützle did not take the morning skate, though he is expected to play on Thursday.
The Sens are still without Ullmark, David Perron and Michael Amadio. But today's developments were a good start on the road back to health and the push for a playoff spot in the new year.
Be sure to bookmark our site and read more stories like this from The Hockey News Ottawa. Recommended articles include:
Related: Ottawa Senators Head Coach Describes What He Worked On At First Team Practice Of 2025
