Senators vs. Ducks Preview: Stützle and Batherson Bring Ottawa's Firepower to Leaky Anaheim

Scoring has not been the Anaheim Ducks' problem lately. In their last two home games they scored five against Vancouver and six against Buffalo and lost both, blowing a three-goal lead late in a 6-5 overtime loss on Tuesday and then watching the Sabres rattle off six straight goals in a 7-6 loss on Thursday. "I liked the way we hung in there and tried to find a way, but the puck's going in too easily," coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday. The next team through the door is not exactly a cure for that.

The Ottawa Senators (9-5-1) visit the Ducks (5-7-1) at 8 p.m. ET Sunday at Honda Center in Anaheim. It is the second half of a back-to-back for Ottawa, which beat San Jose 5-1 on Saturday afternoon, and the fourth stop on a five-game road trip.

The Stakes: A Slide That Needs a Stopper

Anaheim has lost seven of its last eight (1-6-1), per NHL.com, and is 1-4-1 at home. The Ducks sat fifth in the Pacific Division as of Friday, per NHL.com, and their underlying numbers explain the record in one glance: they had allowed 50 goals in 13 games, 3.85 per game, second worst in the league, while scoring 3.31 per game with the sixth-best power play at 28.6 percent. They are a fun watch and a stressful one.

"I just feel like we're not on the same page," Leo Carlsson said Thursday.

Ottawa arrives in a better mood. The Senators had dropped two straight before Saturday, including a 6-5 overtime loss in Los Angeles in which they clawed back from a 5-1 hole in the third period. Then they handled the Sharks, scoring four straight goals after a 1-1 tie, and Samuel Ersson made 21 saves for his first win with Ottawa. They are 4-3-1 on the road and 1-1-1 on this trip.

The Matchup: Ottawa's Top Guns vs. Anaheim's Own Zone

This one starts with Ottawa's forwards against a Ducks defense that has been, generously, a work in progress. Tim Stützle leads the Senators with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) and, per the Senators, already owns the club record for points in the month of October. Drake Batherson has a seven-game point streak with six goals and six assists in that span, per NHL.com. Dylan Cozens has 10 points in 10 career games against Anaheim, per the club, and scored twice in Thursday's comeback in LA.

The flip side is the Ducks' power play against a Senators team that has been short on bodies lately. Cutter Gauthier scored twice with the man advantage on Thursday, and Anaheim's power play is good enough to punish any trip to the box. Ottawa finished Thursday's game with nine forwards after an injury and two ejections, per the Senators, and Hayden Hodgson is listed as suspended by ESPN.

Goaltending is the wild card on both ends. With Linus Ullmark on injured reserve, Jonas Johansson and Ersson have split Ottawa's recent starts, and whoever plays Sunday does it on the second night of a back-to-back. Anaheim's Lukas Dostal (3.56 goals-against average) and Ville Husso (4.12) have both struggled, and Husso allowed seven goals on 31 shots Thursday.

Players to Watch

• Tim Stützle, Senators F: The Senators' leader in goals, assists and points, and he scored and set up a goal Saturday.
• Drake Batherson, Senators F: Seven straight games with a point, including a hat trick against the Rangers on Oct. 24.
• Leo Carlsson, Ducks C: Leads Anaheim with 14 assists and 18 points, and has three straight multipoint games (two goals, five assists), per NHL.com.
• Beckett Sennecke, Ducks F: Anaheim's goals leader with eight, and he has scored in five straight home games, per NHL.com.

Team News

Ottawa forwards Andre Burakovsky and Warren Foegele will be out three to four weeks, per NHL.com. Ullmark and William Eklund are on injured reserve, per ESPN. Shane Pinto, who scored into an empty net Saturday, described the formula on Friday as "It's not complicated, we've just got to get to it early," and the Senators followed that script in San Jose.

For Anaheim, Troy Terry, Pavel Mintyukov, Ian Moore and Ryan Poehling are on injured reserve, per ESPN. The Ducks recalled goaltender Laurent Brossoit from San Diego on Saturday, per the club; the announcement did not give a reason.

By the Numbers

• DraftKings lists Ottawa at -118 and Anaheim at -102 on the moneyline, with a total of 6.5, via ESPN, as of Saturday.
• Anaheim: 1-6-1 in its last eight, allowing six goals to Vancouver and seven to Buffalo in the last two.
• Ottawa: 4-3-1 on the road; Anaheim: 1-4-1 at home.
• This is the first of two meetings; the rematch is Dec. 9 in Ottawa.

Our Pick

Our pick: Senators 5-3. Anaheim's power play and Carlsson's playmaking will keep this interesting, and the back-to-back could catch up with Ottawa late. But the Senators' top six is rolling, Stützle and Batherson are the two hottest players in this game, and the Ducks have allowed at least four goals in four of their last five games. Somewhere in the second period, this turns into a track meet, and Ottawa has more sprinters.

Odds from DraftKings via ESPN as of Oct. 31. Standings, injury listings and season stats from ESPN. Team and injury notes from NHL.com, the Senators' and Ducks' official sites and NHL.com's Swedish edition. Quotes from NHL.com and the Senators' official site.