The Ottawa Senators will be dealing with a couple of lineup changes for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday night when forwards Ryan Dzingel and Tommy Wingels will be returning to the lineup against the Pittsburgh Penguins, coach Guy Boucher announced.
They will be taking the place of forwards Viktor Stalberg and Chris Neil.
Stalberg, one of the many depth additions the Senators made ahead of the NHL trade deadline, is currently dealing with an undisclosed injury.
Neil’s return to the lineup in the second-round against the New York Rangers received quite a bit of attention (for mostly the wrong reasons) but he only ended up playing four minutes in the two games he dressed. Given the depth of Pittsburgh’s lineup and the fact they really do not have anyone in their lineup that is going to stir up trouble there really is not much sense in having Neil in the lineup. It would probably only do more to hurt the Senators’ chances.
Dzingel scored 14 goals for the Senators during the regular season and has one goal and two assists in nine games this postseason.
Wingels, another in-season acquisition by general manager Pierre Dorion, has appeared in five games this postseason and yet to record a point.