The Ottawa Senators have more than three-quarters of the season remaining, but already they desperately need to change their fortunes as they play host to the Calgary Flames on Monday.
Coming off a 4-3 loss on Saturday to the Vancouver Canucks — a game in which two late goals made it a respectable final result — the Senators have dropped five straight games, the last four in regulation time, heading into the final date of a four-game homestand.
The Senators, who have failed to make the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons, the third-longest current drought behind the Buffalo Sabres (13 seasons) and Detroit Red Wings (eight seasons), must right the ship.
Ottawa is ahead of only the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference standings, although only six points out of a playoff position and with two games in hand on the Boston Bruins, who currently hold the final spot.
“I think we’re going to turn this around,” forward Claude Giroux said. “I strongly believe that. And you know, it’s got to be everybody. It just can’t be a few guys having good games. We need everybody to be dialed in. The guys are working hard, but we’ve got to play a little smarter, and it’s going to turn around.”
The Senators did not play a smart game against the Canucks, a recurring issue for the past few seasons. Costly giveaways have been the norm, without the necessary top-shelf goaltending to survive those woes.
“In the NHL, you can’t gift goals,” coach Travis Green said. “Look at all four goals, a couple of turnovers, we make a mistake. Those are gifts. You’re going to make mistakes. In the NHL, there are a lot of mistakes made. You have to play better.”
The surging Flames arrive in the Canadian capital to kick off a four-game road swing while riding a four-game winning streak.
Calgary ended a perfect homestand with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” said defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who scored the deciding goal. “We should’ve won in regulation, but it is what it is and we end up getting two points.”
Calgary surrendered a two-goal, third-period lead before regrouping and earning the win, which gives it points in eight of nine games.
“I liked a lot of our game,” coach Ryan Huska said. “The part that I didn’t like probably, was the last seven or eight minutes, where I felt for the first time this year, we sat back a bit and let them come at us. A lesson for us, we can make sure we’re better in that situation next time.”
As they kick off the trip, the Flames are finally boasting some power-play prowess. After a lengthy swoon with the man-advantage, in which they scored only twice in 13 games, they have scored a power-play goal in three consecutive games posted a 4-for-8 mark.
“We’re just moving the puck well,” Andersson said. “When we have shooting opportunities, we shoot, and we try and work the puck back as quickly as possible after we shoot it. … It’s a good thing, now we’ve just got to keep it going.”
Despite battling for top spot in the Pacific Division, the Flames remain one of the lower-scoring clubs. In fact, Calgary has scored three or fewer non-shootout goals in 18 consecutive games, and posted a 9-6-3 mark in that span.
–Field Level Media
