Jets must beware ‘pesky Sens’ tonight

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This article was published 16/01/2012 (5008 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — As an example of how hard it is to move up in the NHL standings, consider what the Ottawa Senators have done over the past week.

They’ve won four straight games, including a sweep of road games in Pittsburgh, New York and Montreal, but haven’t budged in the Eastern Conference, where they sit fifth with 56 points.

Although they’ve crept within a point of the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins and built nice cushion between themselves and ninth place in the conference, they’ve also played more games — 46 — that any Eastern team other than the woebegone Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins hold five games in hand on the Senators, while every other team has at least one game in hand.

But by earning 17 points in their past nine games, the Senators have not only kept pace in the conference, they haven’t sunk.

“It’s just how tight the league is,” Senators winger Nick Foligno said. “If we don’t win those games, it could be a whole different story.”

It’s against this backdrop that the Senators head into their final six games before the all-star break: tonight at home against the Winnipeg Jets, then a five-game road trip that starts in Toronto on Tuesday and heads out to the western United States.

It will be a crucial stretch.

“We may lose two, three games in a row at some point, but it’s how quick you get back on the horse and get a win,” Senators centre Jason Spezza said. “For teams that have prolonged losing streaks, those can be a killer.”

By this time last year, the Senators were just about dead and buried after a terrible start. There was little chance they would claw their way back.

With their current hot streak, the Senators are hoping to avoid a similar situation this season.

“I think we’re trying to establish ourselves as a team that can be a real playoff team,” Spezza said. “We play hard every night. We work hard in practice. We have great chemistry in the room and our coaches really push us. We’re reaping the benefits of that.

“It’s a tough part of the schedule, a tough part of the season, and if you can pick up wins in these tough stretches, it bodes well for you going forward to try to make the playoffs.”

Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens was another example of the team’s resolve. It was the Senators’ league-leading 15th overtime game. They were upset that they allowed Max Pacioretty to score with 38.9 seconds left to tie the game, but Daniel Alfredsson scored the lone shootout goal to give the Senators their ninth overtime or shootout victory.

With 36 games to play, the Senators have allowed 146 goals. That’s the third-most in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve scored 146, the second-most, which is surprising. Offence was one of the biggest concerns general manager Bryan Murray had before the season started.

“Call them the ‘pesky Sens,’ ” Alfredsson said. “They don’t quit.

“We’ve scored way more goals than everybody anticipated,” he said. “(Jason) Spezza’s having a great season. Milan (Michalek), Zack Smith, (Nick) Foligno, (Erik) Condra, (Colin) Greening — everybody’s contributing, and that takes a lot of pressure off everybody, too.

“We know that one line is stepping up every night pretty much, and when they don’t, our goalie seems to play unbelievable.

“We kind of call ourselves the pesky Sens and we kind of play that way.”

 

— Postmedia News