Sens focused on keeping positive momentum going
The Ottawa Senators greeted Sunday like the rest of us, embracing the long-awaited break from their deep freeze.
Finally, there’s some light emerging from the dark tunnel of their extended stretch of uncompetitive hockey.
After scoring a combined 12 goals in victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning and San Jose Sharks Friday and Saturday, there’s renewed hope. Since the New Year, the Senators have picked up five of a possible six points.
“It’s huge, especially with where we are in the standings, we’ve got to keep climbing,” said winger Mark Stone, who scored two goals and four assists in the weekend wins. “If you get wins against these types of teams, it can really energize the locker room. We can’t take anything for granted right now.”
It’s easy to get lost in the impossible odds. Before Sunday’s games, the Senators were nine points and seven teams out of the playoffs. To reach 95 points, often the cut-off line to reach the post-season, they would need to pick up 58 points in their final 42 games. That’s something along the lines of a 27-11-4 finish, where a Hamburglar-like run is necessary.
For now, though, they have smaller goals in mind, simply trying to maintain momentum against the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday and Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday before heading into a bye-week.
“It has been awhile since we’ve played two games back to back the way we did here,” said captain Erik Karlsson, who had three assists in Saturday’s win over the Lightning. “We found a way to hang in there and give ourselves a chance. We have to relax a little bit and keep playing the way we have to, no matter what happens in games. We’re a little more relaxed and we’re helping each other out a little more.”
Indeed, goaltender Craig Anderson stole a point in Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
On Friday, Anderson’s teammates bailed him out from a couple of questionable goals in the first two periods against San Jose, battling back from a 5-2 third period deficit to win 6-5. Saturday against Tampa, it was Anderson’s 45 saves, including shutout play in the first and third periods that kept the Senators from falling behind.
It has been a largely forgettable season for Anderson – an 11-12-5 record, 3.14 goals against average and .899 save percentage. Saturday, though, he responded to the trust coach Guy Boucher showed by giving him starts on back-toback nights.
“You’ve just got to be prepared to stay in there and give your team a chance, no matter what the score is,” said Anderson, who should get the start Tuesday against Chicago. “We’ve shown we can compete in a 6-5 game and we’ve won a few games 2-1 or some (other) low-scoring games. You’ve got to take the night as it goes and give your team a chance at the end of the night.”
The Senators have no chance for the post-season unless Anderson can consistently deliver frontline goaltending, stealing his share of games.
Suddenly, though, there’s also a renewed sense of offensive confidence from two explosive lines.
In the past two games, the trio of Stone, Derick Brassard and Ryan Dzingel has combined for six goals and six assists. The Mike HoffmanMatt Duchene-Bobby Ryan unit also clicked for four goals and seven assists against Tampa Bay and San Jose.
It’s a far cry from textbook Guy Boucher hockey, but the scoring has provided life.
“I don’t think we’re playing the match-up game as much right now, because I think we’re confident in throwing out the lines we have right now, which is exciting,” said Stone, who typically makes those around him better. Dzingel is taking full advantage of his opportunity on a top line, with four goals in his past three games. In his previous 10 games, he had no goals and one assist.
“He has embraced being our guy to do a little bit of the dirty work,” Stone said of Dzingel. “When you play with him, you start to appreciate his speed a little more than when you’re sitting on the bench (watching). Every time I get the puck, I’m looking for him to stretch the zone. It just opens up everything. If you look at his goals, they’re always within five or 10 feet of the net.”
Dzingel has 13 goals, one shy of what he scored in 2016-17, during his first full year in the NHL.
“The NHL is a really streaky league and when you get momentum, you have to try and carry it over to the next game,” he said.
As for the team, two consecutive wins isn’t much of a streak, but if the Senators are going to make any noise at all, they have to start somewhere.