Maple Leafs vs Senators lineup: Battle of Ontario scratches and starter set for tonight

As the Toronto Maple Leafs look to get themselves back on track, they find themselves against their provincial rivals Ottawa as things get dire in Toronto; though tonight there is a bit of a reason to celebrate.

Not only is the team recognizing Auston Matthews' gold medal, but they are also getting Easton Cowan back for the first time in a month after sitting for what felt like an eternity.

But it's now a focus on who else is going to be in the lineup, and from the looks of Saturday's morning skate, there is certainly a shuffling of players for the game:

Knies - Matthews - Domi
Maccelli - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Roy - Cowan
Joshua - Laughton - Robertson

Rielly - Carlo
McCabe - Stecher
Benoit - OEL

Woll

Matthew Knies finds his way back up top with Auston Matthews, meanwhile Bobby McMann joins Nic Roy and Cowan on the third line. One notable absence is Steven Lorentz as he might get the night off in favor of Dakota Joshua.

The defense has also shifted around a bit with Rielly back up top with Carlo, and McCabe getting a new partner in Stetcher while OEL gets to deal with Simon Benoit.

Joseph Woll gets his second straight start, and he will be looking for a much better effort than the one he put in against Florida.

Ottawa will counter with the following lineup; with a couple notable absences:

Batherson - Eller - Giroux
Tkachuk - Cozens - Greig
Cousins - Pinto - Amadio
MacDermid - Halliday - Zetterlund

Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Jensen
Kleven - Spence

Ullmark

The Senators don't have Tim Stutzle or Nikolas Matinpalo on the ice though there is no confirmation yet if they will be missing or not.

Also to note, James Reimer was also on the ice for the Senators and it is very possible he gets the call against his former team.

It will be a bit testy having Tkachuk back in the building given the recent noise surrounding the US Olympic team, and you can always count on him causing some chaos, though may steer clear of his former captain Auston Matthews.

Toronto is going to need a strong effort out of the gate, and can't fall behind within minutes like they have the past two games. If this team doesn't turn things around soon, then there will be a push to sell at the deadline regardless.

They have potentially one game left to turn it around before things get really dire, and against their provincial rivals nonetheless -- anything less than stellar could be disastrous going forward.

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