Senators look to hold off Canadiens for seeding in Eastern Conference
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The Ottawa Senators will try to take one step closer to locking down their seeding in the NHL playoff picture when they take on the red hot Montreal Canadiens on Friday.
Ottawa locked down a playoff spot for the first time in seven seasons earlier in the week and go into Friday's game with a three-point advantage over the Canadiens for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Senators have won three of their past four games entering the matchup, which includes back-to-back shutouts over the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets over the weekend.
Their improvement on the defensive side of the ice is a welcoming sight as the team enters the postseason.
"Lately, we haven't done as many immature mistakes," goaltender Linus Ullmark said about his team's defensively play on Sunday. "We don't force plays as much as we did earlier in the season, You know, we take what's there, and if there's no play, we chip it out, live to fight another day."
A large reason for the Senators' improved play compared is improved goaltending, which was stabilized with the acquisition Ullmark from the Boston Bruins in the off-season.
Ottawa leads the NHL with 10 shutouts this season with Ullmark supplying four of them.
The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner has a 23-14-3 record overall to go along with a 2.68 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage, which is tied for 10th in the league.
The Senators could be without their captain Brady Tkachuk for a sixth straight game due to a lingering upper-body injury.
Tkachuk, 25, is looking forward to his first opportunity to play in the playoffs, but has been cautious about his status for the remainder of the regular season, weighing the balance of rust versus rest.
"I'm in the mental state where [I believe] there's two more months of hockey left," said Tkachuk. "It's going to be a long, gruelling, and taxing [time] on the body and mind, so I think it's a combination of resting up for that.
"I haven't played since March 30 so [I also] got to make sure I'm ready physically. I know mentally, [I've] been waiting for this moment so I'm not worried about that one bit."
The Canadiens are trying to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since they appeared in the Stanley Cup Final during the shortened 2021 campaign.
They have a six-point advantage over the New York Rangers and Blue Jackets for the final wild-card spot in the East and have been hot, winning their past six games heading into Friday's matchup.
"It's pretty much in the back of everybody's mind,” Canadiens forward Cole Caufield said after their 4-1 win to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday . “But now for us, we got to get there, and we've been working for this all year, so you can't come up short now."
Sam Montembeault is expected to get the start on Friday in the crucial matchup against the Senators.
The 6-foot-3 netminder has a 30-23-6 record this season with a 2.81 GAA and .902 save percentage this season.
Montreal will have three more games to wrap up their spot in the postseason after Friday with a date with their forever rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night followed by home games against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday and Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.