Ice Chips: Senators to get Pinto, Norris, Tkachuk back Saturday
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Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators will have three major pieces back in their forwards group on Saturday, as head coach Travis Green told reporters after Saturday's skate that Shane Pinto, Brady Tkachuk and Josh Norris will all play against the San Jose Sharks.
Norris has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury. The 25-year-old has 19 goals and 31 points in 50 games this season.
Norris said he took a “really good step today, take it from there and see how tomorrow feels,” after practice on Friday.
“I’ve thought about it a lot actually," he said. "Obviously there’s not a ton you can do when you’re hurt. Think about hockey 24/7. I’ve pictured myself going back. I have 24 games left. It’s really intense and good hockey. These are the types of games you don’t want to miss. Happy I’m feeling good again.”
Pinto, 24, has 11 goals and 22 points in 46 games this season. He has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury. The fifth-year player had 12 points in 14 games before he went down with the injury on Feb. 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“There’s just no excuses," Tkachuk said after practice on Friday. "There’s a standard I want to play with and I know everybody in this room wants to play to the best of their abilities."
"Tomorrow, if we have everybody back, expect everybody to be ready to go from the start ... treat every game like it’s a Game 7 at this point of the year.”
The Senators are riding a five-game losing streak into their matchup with the Sharks on Saturday that has caused the team to slip out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
At 62 points (29-25-4), Ottawa sits four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (66 points) and Detroit Red Wings (66 points) for the wild-card slots.
The Senators are fighting to end an eight-year playoff drought this season, dating back to the team making the Eastern Conference Final in 2017.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs were missing three regulars in practice on Saturday, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev and Steven Lorentz all missed the session.
Ekman-Larsson missed the final 14:41 of the third period in Friday's win over the New York Rangers. Tanev suffered an upper-body injury on Feb. 25 and missed Friday's game.
Lorentz was spotted riding a stationary bike on Saturday, but did not participate in the practice session, per TSN's Mark Masters.
The Maple Leafs skated the following lines in practice:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Jarnkrok - Robertson
Pacioretty - Kampf - Reaves
Steeves, Dewar
Rielly - Myers
Benoit - McCabe
Rifai - Timmins
Absent: Lorentz, Domi, OEL, Tanev
Toronto returns to action on Sunday riding a four-game winning streak. They'll be in Pittsburgh to wrap up a four-game road trip against the Penguins.
Buffalo Sabres
Forward Jason Zucker did not participate in the Buffalo Sabres' morning skate on Saturday, per The Athletic's Matthew Fairburn.
The 33-year-old has not skated with the team since Tuesday.
In 54 games this season, the 14th-year veteran has 18 goals and 44 points.
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues skated the following lines in practice on Saturday, per The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford:
Neighbours-Thomas-Buchnevich
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Joseph-Sundqvist-Bolduc
Toropchenko-Faksa-Walker
Fowler-Parayko
Broberg-Faulk
Suter-Leddy
The Blues are playing the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.