Ottawa Citizen

THIS MUCH WE KNOW — THE SENS BELONG IN THIS PLAYOFF BATTLE

Everybody on the roster out there fighting for each other, Karlsson says

- WAYNE SCANLAN wscanlan@postmedia.com twitter.com/@hockeyscan­ner

Save up your spending money.

Don’t plan any spring trips, except to certain cities that have teams residing in the NHL Atlantic Division or wild-card territory.

This has been building for some time, Sunday’s bizarre 7-6 overtime loss notwithsta­nding: The 2016-17 Ottawa Senators are a playoff team.

Barring something unforeseen — a devastatin­g spate of injuries or late collapse — the Senators have all the markings of a team destined to be among the top eight of the Eastern Conference and top three of the Atlantic.

It doesn’t hurt that some of the usual division stalwarts — Tampa Bay, Boston, Detroit — have struggled. Still, the Senators are full value for their improved place in the world. Sunday, they did what they should — beat up on backup Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for six goals. That should have been enough, but a weary Mike Condon yielded seven goals on one of those rare goofy nights in the game of hockey. For all the heavy lifting Condon has done, he’s allowed an off night in a back-to-back situation.

While the Senators continue to pick up points, they’re not picking their spots. They recently beat the Blue Jackets’ sterling starter Sergei Bobrovsky, and in the past couple of weeks have handled the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues.

The Senators’ recent road swing — a perfect 3-0 romp through Columbus, St. Louis and Toronto — cinched this feeling that they belong. The Blue Jackets are tied with Washington for the most points in the NHL.

“It’s nice to know you can beat some of the best teams in the league in their barn,” said Zack Smith, who scored twice on Sunday. With more road games than homers the rest of the way, Ottawa likes its 12-8-0 road record.

Long before this juncture, there was something about the Senators’ confidence and poise, regardless of the score in a particular game, that reminded us of Senators teams in the past that had this quality.

New head coach Guy Boucher, who deserves enormous credit for cleaning up the mess that was this team’s defensive-zone coverage from last season, has been equally impressive in the media conference room or postgame on the road. Recently, he described the 2016-17 group as one that has “a soul.”

This is a serious upgrade from the usual descriptio­ns of a team having “chemistry” or “mental toughness,” or one that is “buying into the system.”

For now, let’s accept that it does have a soul, an embodiment of a certain quality or team concept.

The captain, Erik Karlsson, believes it to be so, as he expressed after the Senators beat their Ontario rivals from Toronto 3-2 in a shootout Saturday.

“Everybody fights for each other,” Karlsson said. “You can put anyone out there, and if you look at the ice time, it’s fairly equal all the way around.”

Karlsson did play 30 minutes in Toronto, but point taken. His average time per game is down a full two minutes from last season, when he averaged 28:58. And he’s not complainin­g.

After nearly four months of hockey and an exhausting week, the Senators have consistent­ly shown themselves to be among the class teams of the division. And while the lower depths of the Atlantic have removed themselves from the conversati­on until a further winning streak, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto are playing well enough to separate themselves from the pack.

Only their ridiculous­ly high games-played total has the Boston Bruins up among the playoff teams, however briefly. The Bruins played their 50th game on Sunday — another devastatin­g defeat that has them in trouble because division rivals like Ottawa and Toronto have five games in hand on the slumping B’s, winners of just three of their past 10.

Boston has put up 52 points. In February, when the Bruins are on their bye week, several teams could pass them like they were a “house by the side of the road,” as the legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaste­r Ernie Harwell used to say.

The Senators, with 55 points in 45 games, are on pace for a 100-point season.

One of these weeks, the rest of the NHL might notice what Ottawa has going on.

500 BIG ONES

With his boyish looks, Kyle Turris looks too young to have played in game No. 500 on Sunday, but he scored the powerplay goal to force overtime and enjoyed some special moments with his son and his father.

Turris likes to visit the glass, pre-game, for “face time” with his son, Beckett, who’s two-anda-half.

“He’s at an age now where he’s obsessed with hockey, and he realizes when I’m out on the ice. You see his face light up when I skate over to him in the warm-up, it’s pretty neat.”

Kyle’s father, Bruce, was also in town from B.C.

 ?? FRED CHARTRAND/THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Zack Smith celebrates one of his two first-period goals on Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
FRED CHARTRAND/THE CANADIAN PRESS Zack Smith celebrates one of his two first-period goals on Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
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