On Wednesday, Andrew Hammond turned aside 25 shots as the Senators cruised past the Anaheim Ducks by a 3-0 final. The next night, Hammond stood on his head again, this time stopping all 35 shots directed his way in a 1-0 win over the red-hot Los Angeles Kings.
Tonight, Andrew Hammond and the rest of the Ottawa Senators look for a rare sweep of California, as they visit Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and the rest of the San Jose Sharks.
It’s been a weird season for the San Jose Sharks to this point. Caught between a rebuild and a re-brand, the Sharks seem to have lost a bit of the identity that made them one of the most feared teams in the Western Conference. Left reeling after a devastating collapse against the Kings in last year’s playoffs, the Sharks set out to shake things up by adding toughness to a talented line up and instead, have taken away from some of the skill that made them such a dominant team the past few years (in the regular season, anyway).
Coming into tonight, the Sharks sit three points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. This is a game they desperately need so the Senators can expect to see the Sharks at the top of their game.
Goes without saying but if the Senators want to continue to keep pace in the Eastern Conference, they’ll need to find a way to keep banking points on what previously appeared to be an impossible road trip. Anaheim and Los Angeles were probably the two toughest stops but their next three games are against three talented (and desperate) Western Conference opponents. After tonight, the Senators are in Minnesota on Tuesday night and close out the road trip in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
The Senators currently sit seven points back of the Bruins in the East but have two games in hand. Boston plays at home against a terrible Arizona Coyotes team.
(UPDATE- 2:50 PM)- An update from the morning skate. No sign of Curtis Lazar. Matt Puempel has taken his spot on that line.
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Andrew Hammond makes his 5th consecutive start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 10:00 PM.
-Lots of talk about the future of Erik Condra leading up to the deadline. A UFA to be, Condra is the type of player that a playoff bound team would probably have interest in. The price isn’t high and as Condra has shown over the last couple week, he can be an extremely effective 3rd/4th line player and penalty killer. The good news is that right now, the Senators are not completely sold on the idea of trading him. Dave Cameron is a huge fan and quotes from Murray seem to suggest that right now, the offers aren’t good enough to make a deal. Things can change over the next couple days but right now it sounds like the Senators are leaning towards keeping him.
-The blueline is the other interesting place to watch for the Senators. Obviously Patrick Wiercioch’s name is the one that comes up most but again, I don’t know that the Senators are completely set on moving him. They would like to move a defenceman if the right offer comes along but Eric Gryba and Chris Phillips are both options on that front too. I don’t think there’s much more than tire-kicking with any of these players to this point but that could change prior to Tuesday’s deadline.
