A major blue-line decision is coming in Ottawa-Carolina
Photo credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
Travis Green has another headache on his hands Monday as the Ottawa Senators prepare to face the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 trailing 0-1 in the series.
Artem Zub is a game-time decision tonight with an undisclosed issue, per Julian McKenzie of The Athletic. The team isn't tipping its hand either way.
Down a game, down a defenseman, in front of the best team in the Metropolitan. Not the position Ottawa wanted.
Zub is exactly the kind of right-shot defender you cannot afford to lose for this matchup. He finished the regular season with 30 points in 81 games and a plus-22 rating at a $4.6 million cap hit.
The points aren't the argument. The plus-22 is.
A Sens blueline that needs every minute Artem Zub can give against Rod Brind'Amour's forecheck
Here's the McKenzie report as it came through Monday morning.
Rod Brind'Amour's Hurricanes finished at 53-22-7 with 113 points and a plus-56 goal differential. Their forecheck is the calling card, and it's the reason Ottawa got shut out 2-0 in Game 1 on Saturday.
You don't hang in that matchup rolling seven D-men with a short leash on your third pair. Losing Zub forces Green to do exactly that.
The Senators closed their regular season at 44-27-11 for 99 points and a plus-32 differential. They're a real team, not a lottery afterthought. But Carolina is a handful for real teams too.
Ottawa will need to generate more than zero on the road. Game 1 was the kind of shutout where the Sens got their chances and couldn't finish. That's the hard version of a loss to live with.
Steve Staios spent the last two offseasons building this roster to compete in a playoff series like this one. Every decision, every signing, every trade was pointed at a week like the one Ottawa is in right now.
Zub's availability won't decide the series on its own. But losing him in Game 2 makes Game 3 on Thursday back in Ottawa a lot heavier.
If he can't go, Green's second pair gets reshuffled, the penalty kill loses minutes, and the Hurricanes get an extra step of runway every time they come up the wall.
The Senators will know in warmups. So will Carolina.
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