Senators' fourth line is finding success

Ridly Greig celebrating his game-tying goal in the Senators' game versus the New York Islanders Icon Sportswire/GettyImages

Senators' fourth line is finding success

Originally posted on SenShot | By Alicia Racine | Last updated Oct 16, 2026 10:46 PM ET

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With the season just beginning to unfold and the Ottawa Senators suffering from a lengthy list of injuries, head coach Travis Green has had to make quite a few roster decisions. With the recent news that winger William Eklund had surgery yesterday to repair a torn tendon in his ankle and that he will be out of the lineup for 10-12 weeks, the team has been trying to find a replacement for his top six winger spot.

In tonight’s game versus the New York Islanders, the line combinations were once again shuffled a bit. Stephen Halliday ended up on the left wing with centre Tim Stützle and right winger Drake Batherson. This domino effect put Ridly Greig as the centerman on the fourth line with wingers Warren Foegele and Fabian Zetterlund. Although it’s still a rather small sample size, both moves seem to be working well for the Senators.

Swapping a centre and a winger

After the team’s practice this morning, Green said that the method behind his madness was to generate more consistent five-on-five play on the team’s fourth line and to give Halliday an opportunity to showcase his talents with some of the team’s most dynamic players. Right out of the gate, the top line seemed to click early and almost resulted in a goal. Halliday capitalized in the middle of the opening frame, but the goal was called back for being offside.

I'm really liking the Halliday 1LW experience so far.
— Alex Adams (@alexadamsBTP_) October 15, 2026

One of the most noticeable lines throughout the game was the newly formed fourth line. According to Natural Stat Trick, with 5:52 together in the first two periods, Greig’s newest line had a 58.82% expected goals percentage. Towards the end of the second frame after a powerplay opportunity, Foegele set up Greig for his first goal of the season that beat Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov. Foegele also had a ‘close but no cigar’ goal like Halliday in the first period. Foegele’s non-goal ricocheted off of the crossbar, and although it beat Varlamov, the puck did not cross the goal line.

Greig buries his first of the season after a nasty sauce pass by Foegele! #GoSensGo

Again, I feel like Greig always plays better at centre. I like him in that 4C spot. https://t.co/0DTPk3RkM5 pic.twitter.com/6hzEjNbA6n
— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) October 16, 2026

If the Senators' first and fourth lines can continue to build chemistry, they may have found an in-house solution for some of their injury woes. Although this is credited to the fact that the depth on their roster is one of the deepest across the NHL, right now these line combinations just make sense. Greig thrives more as a centre, and that was evident tonight. Halliday’s talent has also been buried on the team’s fourth line, and he deserves an opportunity to play more critical minutes.

The Senators defeated the Islanders 2-1 in a thrilling shootout win on home ice.

This article first appeared on SenShot and was syndicated with permission.

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