Senators at Flames
Time is running out on the Ottawa Senators as they complete a three-game road trip through western Canada against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Ottawa had its four-game winning streak snapped with a 5-3 loss to Vancouver on Thursday and sits four points behind Pittsburgh for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 20 games remaining in its bid to reach the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"We've got to win," the Senators' Mark Stone told reporters after scoring a short-handed goal Thursday. "I don't think we thought we were going to win the next 20 games, but one game at a time, we need to start winning. Heading into Calgary, we need to throw this one away. Other teams are winning; we've got to find a way, too." Calgary has lost three straight and is 1-5-1 in its last seven games after a 2-1 overtime setback to the New York Islanders on Thursday and is tied for the second-fewest points in the Western Conference. The Flames are expected to sell with Monday's trade deadline looming as defenseman Kris Russell could be an attractive pickup for a playoff contender as might forwards Jiri Hudler, who scored Thursday, and Joe Colborne. "You just have to remember that it’s completely out of your control,” Colborne told reporters about trade rumors. "... We get paid really well to play a game that we love and this is one of the drawbacks of it.”
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC
ABOUT THE SENATORS (29-27-6): Mike Hoffman (team-high 25 goals) and Bobby Ryan (21) each scored Thursday while Ryan was a minus-3 and is minus-13 in 12 February games. Kyle Turris (13 goals, 30 points) hasn't scored in 25 games while playing through a lower-body injury and hasn't recorded a point in 14 contests. Clarke MacArthur, who missed all but the first four games with a concussion, made the trip and is skating with the team but his return does not appear imminent.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (26-30-4): Russell has missed the last six games because of an lower-body injury but could return just in time to make a final audition for a potential suitor. Johnny Gaudreau has 22 goals and 37 assists - both team highs - while riding a six-game point streak (one goal, seven assists). Center Sean Monahan (18 goals) has four tallies and eight assists in 11 February games after recording an assist Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Calgary (73.6 percent) and Ottawa (74.6) have the worst penalty-killing units in the NHL while the Flames are second-worst on the power play at 15.8 percent.
2. Senators D Dion Phaneuf had two assists Thursday and has a goal and five assists in eight games since being acquired from Toronto on Feb. 9.
3. The home team has won six straight meetings after Ottawa's 5-4 shootout victory Oct. 28 in the first encounter of the two-game season series.