Where there’s life, there’s still hope
OTTAWA — You can excuse the Ottawa Senators if they spent their off day Sunday — pardon the plagiarism of The Mamas & the Papas — California Dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.
It’s an intriguing week to come. The upcoming West Coast road trip could act as a source of inspiration for a late-season playoff push, or it could simply be a chance to take a longer look at prospects and/or perhaps trade away the salary of a veteran player or two before the March 2 deadline.
As the Senators leave Monday for a 10-day, five-game road trip, beginning with a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, they’re once again openly talking about their ridiculous longshot hopes of qualifying for the playoffs. With a ridiculous long-shot goaltender in their net to boot.
“It’s exciting and it’s another step forward,” Andrew Hammond said after backstopping the Senators to their 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers Saturday, his second win in as many NHL starts while subbing for the injured Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner. “There’s obviously still a little bit of a ways to go for the playoffs, but the last two games have helped us and you can’t really count yourself out until you’re mathematically eliminated.”
Hammond knows there’s potential for a California crash. Making up ground while playing against playoff contenders Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose, followed by games in Minnesota and Winnipeg next week, is improbable.
The Senators are 11th in the East, needing to overtake Boston, Florida and Philadelphia to earn the final wild-card spot. Boston finally ended its tailspin with a 6-2 win over Chicago Sunday, which pushed the Senators nine points behind. According to sportsclubstats. com, the Senators’ chances of making the post-season are now at 7.6 per cent, firmly in that land between slim and none.
“It’s a tough road trip and teams can kind of go sideways there, but just having two games under my belt gives me the confidence that I can play in the league and get some wins for the team, so it’s a positive note for my confidence heading into the trip,” said Hammond.
Win or lose, the trip is a great trial for left-winger Matthew Puempel, who made his NHL debut against Florida. Can he stand up to the pace and physical toll of playing three games in four nights, including back-toback games Wednesday and Thursday, against playofftested competition? Can youngsters Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Curtis Lazar, who have worked well together on a line with Erik Condra, handle themselves in some of the NHL’s toughest arenas? Keep in mind that Pageau lost his spot in the NHL following a California trip early last season.
In terms of veterans, captain Erik Karlsson is on a sixgame point-scoring streak in which he has two goals and eight assists. Karlsson also owns a plus/minus of plus 8 during that stretch and is on the positive side of the ledger for the season, a turnaround that hardly seemed possible during the darkest days of December.
Like Karlsson, Kyle Turris has re-discovered his scoring touch, with four goals and five assists in his past six games. The line of Turris, rookie Mark Stone and Milan Michalek has combined for 10 goals and 15 assists in that span.
Michalek’s recent surge likely isn’t enough to attract the attention of teams interested in trading for scoring help before the trade deadline. He has two years and $8 million remaining on his contract.
But if anyone wants to talk about Michalek or any other veteran, Senators GM Bryan Murray will be all ears.
Colin Greening, who has two years and $5.95 million remaining on his contract, is also available. Greening will be recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League for the road trip.
David Legwand, who has another year and $3 million remaining, is another veteran forward the Senators will try to trade before the deadline in order to clear up a roster spot and salary room for the 2015-16 season.
Condra, who has quietly put together a four-game scoring streak, is a pending restricted free agent. If he’s traded away before the deadline, it means he won’t be back when the Senators return to Canadian Tire Centre against the Buffalo Sabres March 6.
On defence, it will be a tense week for Patrick Wiercioch, who will be wondering if a playoff-bound team will be willing to take on his 2015-16 salary of $2.7 million in the name of defensive depth for a long playoff run.
Yet if the Senators can somehow maintain their current momentum, it could alter Murray’s thinking.
“It’s going to be real difficult, but at the same time it will be a good test to really push us to the limit to see where we’re at,” said Turris.
“JUST HAVING TWO GAMES UNDER MY BELT GIVES ME THE CONFIDENCE THAT I CAN PLAY IN THE LEAGUE AND GET SOME WINS FOR THE TEAM.”
ANDREW HAMMOND