Road Swing to Determine Senator Playoff Hopes

At the very least, the Ottawa Senators have placed themselves into a potentially opportunistic position.

So, when we look back at the most recent homestand and hand it a grading: Mission accomplished.

Now the demanding work truly begins.

With the world junior tournament taking over the friendly confines of the Canadian Tire Centre for the bulk of the Christmas season, Ottawa takes its act on the road. This coming Saturday is kind of a sayonara to the home rink as the Pittsburgh Penguins visit. It will be the last game at the CTC for the Senators for more than three weeks. During that spell, Ottawa faces nine consecutive battles playing the role of visitor. The team’s next game as host is on Jan. 9^th versus Buffalo.

But before we dip into that, a look back.

Realistically, beyond that New York Islander loss this past Sunday afternoon/night the Senators’ last couple of weeks have been solid. While the loss to the Islanders was disappointing (and dreary) Ottawa’s maintained a bit of a roll. The Senators took care of business at the beginning of the month with wins – and you might say expected wins – against both Detroit and Nashville. Expected? Well, yeah. If the team is inclined towards playing past the end of the regular season schedule, those are the types of victories that will be absolutely necessary.

How was it accomplished?

A few keys. One, the goaltending has suddenly shifted from morose to motivating. Linus Ullmark’s game has steadied and he’s giving the Senators just what they expected when that big deal with the Bruins was made in the off-season. There had been some debate about a month ago whether to hand the netminding over to Anton Forsberg as the Senators continued to plummet. Not much of a debate anymore.

In Ullmark’s last five games – dating back to a win in San Jose on Nov. 27^th – he’s allowed just nine goals on 162 shots against. That’s a save percentage hovering around the 95 per cent mark. That recent run of success has also pushed Ullmark’s once shaky season save percentage to above .900 (now at .903). More impressive is during the last three games (all wins), the 31-year-old has surrendered just one goal in each while making a collective 89 stops.

Defensively, Travis Green’s ‘system’ seems to be kicking in as well. A game where Ottawa is out-shot is a rare sighting indeed.

Ottawa’s cry for secondary scoring outside of Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk has also been heard. Drake Batherson trains in the off season with east coast mates Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby. They’re clearly rubbing off. Batherson’s hat trick on Wednesday night against Anaheim vaulted his season total to 12 through the team’s first 28 games. He’s also producing at a better than point-per-game rate with 32.

Naysayers will claim the Senators recent run of success (5-2 in their last seven games) is nothing to get overly tuned up about. Wins over Detroit, Nashville, Anaheim, Calgary and San Jose are all well and good but (here’s that word again) they’re also expected. Countering that? Any organization that hasn’t posted a single trip to the playoffs in seven years and you can exclude the phrase ‘expected wins’ from the conversation. The team, though, did what it absolutely had to do . . . and now it’s on to the long and winding road.

So, what’s it all going to look like? Let’s have a look-see.

First off, it’s not like Ottawa’s catching a break with all its games sitting comfortably in the Eastern time zone. Nope. Things get tumbling next Tuesday when the club heads out about as far west as you can go (until Hawaii gets a team) and takes on Seattle. The Kraken are moving along at about the same pace as Ottawa and sit at .500. Should be interesting to see if the home side chooses to start former Senator Joey Daccord in goal; he’s enjoying a terrific season.

The team heads north after Seattle starting with a visit to Calgary – the Flames have surprised and are off to a 14-10-5 start.

The trip through the Canadian west will likely determine whether Ottawa continues as a serious contender for the post-season. After Calgary, it’s then Vancouver-Edmonton on back-to-back nights no less. Following a short Christmas break, the Senators hop back on the plane for Winnipeg then Minnesota, two of the circuit’s best teams through the first three months.

With their Fodors travel guides in hand, Ottawa visits Dallas, St. Louis and Detroit in the early new year. The Stars are a Cup contender, and the Blues can grind with the best of them. Detroit? That might be the one break Ottawa gets through the holiday season.

By the time we get to Buffalo landing here on Jan. 9^th, the hopes for a long-awaited playoff spot will be a whole lot clearer.

OTTAWA SENATORS WEEK AHEAD:

Friday, Dec. 13: Ottawa at Carolina (7 pm)
Saturday, Dec. 14: Pittsburgh at Ottawa (7 pm)
Tuesday, Dec. 17: Ottawa at Seattle (10 pm)

thegrossgame@yahoo.com

Header image: courtesy ESPN.com