There is no time for the Ottawa Senators to rest on their laurels.
The stage is set for the most meaningful battle of the year between the Senators and the Montreal Canadiens, with the road to the National Hockey League playoffs heating up down the stretch.
While the Senators closed out a successful five-game trip with a 4-0-1 record after a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night, there is no time to look in the rearview mirror as they host the Habs at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
A national audience will be tuning in on Sportsnet for these two pivotal points.
An Atlantic Division battle
Sitting three points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot in the East heading into Tuesday night’s action, the Senators arrive home with a 9-1-2 record in their 12 past games and need to maintain that pace down the stretch to close the gap.
To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best, and 12 of the teams the Senators will face in the final 19 games currently are in a playoff position — including the arch-rival Canadiens, who were hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
This will be the fourth and final game of the season against the Habs. The Senators have posted a 1-0-2 record in three games, but have outscored Montreal 13-12 in those contests.
The most recent time the Senators and Habs faced off in Ottawa on Jan. 17, Cole Caufield scored in overtime to secure a 6-5 victory for Montreal. The Habs scored with an extra attacker late to tie it up and then picked up the extra point, but a lot has changed since then.
Could there be fireworks?
We certainly hope so and the possibility exists.
The Habs are the best team in Canada and the bad blood has built up over the years between these two teams, as they both emerged from lengthy rebuilds to return to the playoffs last spring.
The rivalry boiled over in the pre-season when the two clubs combined for 150 penalty minutes in Ottawa’s 5-0 loss to the Habs in October in Quebec City.
Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk has done a tremendous job of getting under the skin of Montreal fans, along with top centre Tim Stutzle — who extended his point streak to 13 straight games with an assist against the Canucks. Stutzle has eight goals, nine assists, and 17 points in that stretch.
Tkachuk has 15 goals and 30 points against the Habs in 32 games in his career, while Stutzle has posted 10 goals and 24 points in 26 games.
Life without Sanderson
The road to the playoffs just got a little more difficult with the loss of top blueliner Jake Sanderson to a shoulder injury that will keep him out of action at least two weeks — and likely more.
Injured against the Seattle Kraken after being hit by Brandon Montour on Saturday, Sanderson is listed as week-to-week, but the Ottawa Citizen reported on Monday that he’s not expected to need surgery.
Veteran defenceman Thomas Chabot played in the club’s top pairing against the Canucks with Artem Zub. Chabot was plus-one in the 24 minutes and 49 seconds he played, but did take a couple of untimely penalties.
One of his biggest tasks will be running the club’s power-play unit with Sanderson out. He has three goals and 19 points with the man advantage this season, while Chabot has only two goals and six points.
Give Nikolas Matinpalo credit because he hadn’t played since Jan. 24 and did an admirable job with his 13:52 of ice time alongside veteran Nick Jensen. He has taken a lot of heat this season, but has been solid of late.
Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence have a lot to gain from Sanderson’s injury because they’ll be getting top-four minutes. They were strong against the Canucks, but let’s see how they do against better teams.
Ullmark has been on the mark
Linus Ullmark will return after backup James Reimer made 16 stops in the win over the Canucks for only the club’s second shutout of the year.
Related
Ullmark has returned to form since he returned from a leave of absence for mental health reasons on Jan. 31. He has posted a 5-0-2 record in his past seven starts with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
The Senators need Ullmark to stay in that form down the stretch. The club has played solid defensively in front of him, which has taken some of the pressure off making big stops, but he has been solid.
The club has back-to-back games on the weekend with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks in town, so you’d expect Reimer to play one of those games.