Senators Notes: Zub, Pinto, Perron

The Senators will indeed have Artem Zub back in the lineup to face the Islanders tonight, per TSN 1200 Ottawa. Zub had missed the last nine games with a concussion he sustained early in the team’s third game of the season against the Kings back on Oct. 14, but he’s been skating with the team for around a week, and it became clear yesterday that he was likely to return today at home.

It will be Jacob Bernard-Docker coming out of the lineup to make way for Zub’s return, a bit of a surprise given his exemplary possession play (55.3 CF%, fourth on the team). Travis Hamonic remains in the lineup despite going without a point and recording a -5 rating with a 46.7 CF% through 12 appearances. Zub will skate in his usual top-pairing role alongside Jake Sanderson.

Zub posted a +1 rating, one block and three hits in his three regular-season contests last month while averaging 13:58 per game, a number that was dragged down significantly given he sustained his concussion in the first period of his third game. He recorded a career-high 20 assists and 25 points with 122 blocks and 139 hits for the Sens last year in 69 games. Head injuries are becoming a bit of an unfortunate trend for Zub, who missed seven games early last season with a concussion as well and 12 games in 2022-23 with a fractured jaw.

There’s more on the Senators:

• Shane Pinto skated before today’s game, but he didn’t take line rushes and will remain out against the Isles, per TSN 1200. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reported Wednesday that he might be an option to return, but instead, he’ll miss a seventh straight game with an undisclosed injury. He’s still listed as week-to-week but appears close to a return if his presence in tonight’s game was questionable 24 hours beforehand.
• The same goes for David Perron, who remains around the club for home games and practiced today but remains out of the lineup while on personal leave. The 36-year-old, who signed a two-year, $8MM contract in free agency over the summer, had no points and a -4 rating in five contests before departing the team midway through last month.