Nick Jensen will walk into Capital One Arena as a visitor on Monday night for the first time since being traded by the Washington Capitals to the Ottawa Senators last summer.
The Capitals dealt the 34-year-old defenseman to Ottawa with a 2026 third-round draft pick in exchange for defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Jensen spent five full seasons with Washington after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the 2019 trade deadline.
“Yeah, this is definitely a game I’m looking forward to,” Jensen told the AP’s Stephen Whyno pregame. “Obviously I had a lot of time here and a lot of memories, so it’s good to be back here. It’ll be fun to be able to play in front of this crowd again.”
Jensen did not take Ottawa’s morning skate and has been banged up of late, but Senators head coach Travis Green confirmed his involvement in the game Monday morning. The Minnesota native has 18 points (3g, 15a) in 54 games this season and is skating the third-most minutes per game of any Senators player (20:24).
Chychrun has been a major success in Washington, recording 39 points (17g, 22a) in 55 games for the Capitals. He made his first return trip to Ottawa on January 16, a 1-0 overtime win for the Caps.
Jensen and the rest of the Senators will face Logan Thompson in net for the second time this season after he shut them out, stopping all 24 shots he faced, in Chychrun’s homecoming game in Ottawa. Thompson will get the start despite his tandem mate Charlie Lindgren signing a three-year extension with the Capitals on Monday morning.
“It’s an important game for our team at home and Logan, with the way that he’s played this year, has earned the opportunity to play in a game like this,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said. “That’s really it. It’s not anything to do with Chuckie. It’s a really important game for our team.”
The Senators will have star forward Brady Tkachuk back in their lineup for a second consecutive game. Tkachuk missed two outings last week due to a lower-body injury he suffered while playing for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Tkachuk skated 17:48 of ice time and scored his 22nd goal of the season against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Ottawa comes into the game two points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit does not play on Monday, so this is Ottawa’s opportunity to draw level with the Red Wings in the one game in hand they currently hold.
