The Ottawa Senators head to Chicago on a three-game winning streak, fresh off a 7-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night. They face the Blackhawks in the second game of a back-to-back on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. Linus Ullmark is set to start his 300th NHL game.
The Senators wasted no time after their dominant 7-2 win over the Bruins, flying to Chicago immediately to prepare for Tuesday's matchup. This marks their third straight victory, all against the Bruins, and includes two consecutive games with seven goals scored—a rare feat in franchise history, occurring only once before.
Tim Stützle ignited in the third period with two goals following a second-intermission tape job, while linemate Drake Batherson contributed two goals of his own in the rout. Ottawa's power play has been scorching, converting four of five chances against Boston after going three-for-four versus Washington on Saturday, where they also scored seven goals. The Senators lead the NHL with a 35.1 percent success rate on the power play.
The win improved Ottawa to 5-4-1, their strongest start through 10 games since the 2017-18 season. "It’s huge," Batherson said. "Obviously, we didn’t start the season the way we wanted to, but to turn it around in the last week or so, getting the wins we have gotten, and then hopefully dig in [Tuesday] and get another one and come back home and reset for Thursday, it’s huge."
Ullmark is expected to be in net for his 300th career NHL game, boasting a 3-1-0 record against Chicago with a 2.48 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in four starts since 2022. Hunter Shepard was recalled from Belleville to back up on Monday but returned to the AHL on Tuesday morning.
Last season, the teams split two meetings: Ottawa won 4-3 on the road March 5, while Chicago prevailed 4-3 at home April 15. Batherson tallied a goal and two assists across those games. The Blackhawks enter at 4-3-2, snapping a five-game point streak with a loss to Los Angeles. Tuesday features all 32 NHL teams in action for Frozen Frenzy.