The Ottawa Senators have their work cut out for them.
Sitting six points out of the final wildcard spot in the East with the National Hockey League schedule set to resume on Wednesday night, the Senators have ground to make up in the final 25 games of the season if they’re going to make the playoffs for the second straight spring.
As they prepare to face the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators know the task won’t be easy. The club won five of six games heading into the break, and has no time to waste to try to get back into the mix.
“Before the break, we found our identity again, and we were playing really stingy defensively,” winger Nick Cousins told the Ottawa Citizen after the club’s skate on Saturday. “It’s just a matter of picking up where we left off. I know it sounds cliché, but coming this long break, it’s going to be about who can get to their game the quickest.
“The schedule is going to come quickly. We have to make sure we’re ready. We’re right there. We’re only six points out, and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot. Everybody is rested, recharged and they’re ready to get going again.”
The NHL’s Olympic roster freeze was lifted on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. EST with the trade deadline set for March 6 at 3 p.m. The Senators will play four games before the deadline and those results will go a long way in determining whether this club can push for a spot or not.
Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, will have some decisions to make before the deadline, but the issue is there aren’t many sellers and the Senators don’t consider themselves to be in that category either.
There is a lot of belief in the club’s room that the Senators can scratch their way back into the conversation. The club will have to win 18 or 19 of its final 25 games to make a serious run down the stretch and hope they get some help from teams in front of them.
The Senators understand they haven’t left themselves any margin for error and they can’t afford another losing skid. To make that happen, they know they need to be strong defensively and have good discipline.
“Sometimes when we get away from our game, we try to outscore our problems,” said Cousins, who won a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024. “We open the game up and play that back-and-forth style that you can’t win with.
“When we’re playing stingy defensively, our forwards and (defence) have a really good gap, and we make the other team dump it in. One thing in the last 10 games that I’ve noticed is that we’re staying out of the box. That’s been important to create a better flow through the game.
“When you have a lot of penalties that can take guys out of their rhythm. The bad penalties are the ones that come back to bite you.”
A lot will depend on the play of top goaltender Linus Ullmark, who looked solid in the two games he suited up before the break after taking a leave of absence for mental health reasons.
“If we can get Ully back playing up to his level of play, then we’re a tough team to beat,” said Cousins.
The Senators who didn’t go to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan returned to the ice a week ago. The players had Friday off before skating on Saturday and the skills contest on Sunday.
Coach Travis Green told reporters on Monday a lot of planning went into determining how to use this time wisely. You can only do so much to make sure that practice isn’t stale, and the drills the Senators did on Monday involved a little more physical play to prepare for that aspect.
Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson, who won a gold medal with Team USA on Sunday, will play against the Wings. Centre Lars Eller returned to practice after playing for Denmark at the Games.
Centre Tim Stutzle returned to Ottawa on the weekend and bronze medallist Nikolas Matinpalo should be back on Wednesday. The hockey played at the Olympics was intense, physical and quick.
Yes, the game against the Wings has playoff implications, but it won’t be the same as what those five players faced overseas.
“We were playing meaningful games while we were away and at the end it’s do-or-die, you’re either out or you keep advancing” said Eller, Denmark’s captain. “It’s sort of the same here. We’re not going to win every game, but we’re going to need to win most of our games.
“You have to keep that mentality and urgency right where we left off, but we had that in this room coming into the end (of the schedule) before the break. We have to excited and bring that mentality.”
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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