Sharks at Senators
The hamburgers could be flying onto the ice again at the Canadian Tire Centre when the white-hot Ottawa Senators and rookie sensation Andrew Hammond host the San Jose Sharks on Monday night. The surging Senators can overtake Boston for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference as they go for their seventh consecutive victory. Hammond, nicknamed the "Hamburglar," has sparked Ottawa's 14-1-1 tear and has yet to lose in regulation in his 14 career starts (13-0-1).
San Jose, making the fourth stop on a seven-game road trip, is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2002-03 after dropping three of four. Saturday's 2-0 loss at Montreal left the Sharks six points behind third-place Calgary in the Pacific Division and eight behind Winnipeg for the second wild card in the Western Conference. "It's painful," center Joe Pavelski said. "There's 10 (games) left, we'll see what happens. We've got to win the next one."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), RDS (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (35-29-8): San Jose has played decidedly better on the road and will need that trend to continue with seven of its last 10 games away from home. The Sharks have been slowed by a lack of consistent scoring down the stretch, managing two goals or fewer in six of the last seven games and nine of the past 12. Pavelski, who leads the team with 34 goals, has scored only three times over the past 15 games while Logan Couture - second on the team with 23 tallies - is mired in a slump that has produced two goals in the last 14 contests.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (36-24-11): Nearly lost in the hoopla of Hammond's magical run has been the stellar play of Kyle Turris, who has scored twice in back-to-back contests after setting up the game-winner in overtime at Carolina on Tuesday. "We just want to keep winning games," Turris said. "We're confident if we play well and just keep winning it puts a lot of pressure on Boston and Washington and hopefully we're able to catch them." Forwards Milan Michalek (upper body) and rookie Matt Puempel (lower body) exited Saturday's contest, with Puempel listed as week-to-week.
OVERTIME
1. Hammond is the first netminder with at least one point in his first 14 starts since Pittsburgh's Patrick Lalime opened 14-0-2 in 1996-97
2. The Sharks have prevailed in seven of the last nine meetings but Ottawa won at San Jose 4-2 on Feb. 28.
3. The Senators recalled F Zach Smith from Binghamton of the American Hockey League.