Sens look to clinch playoff spot against Blue Jackets on TSN
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For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Ottawa Senators can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Viewers in the Sens region can watch the game LIVE on TSN5 and streaming on TSN.ca or the TSN App.
Over the previous seven seasons, the Senators have not finished with more than 39 wins and 86 points. With five games remaining this season, Ottawa has already secured 42 wins and 90 points, good enough to hold down the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, five points better than the second-place Montreal Canadiens and six better than the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, who are both on the outside looking in.
Ottawa can also clinch a playoff berth on Tuesday if they earn one point and get any result in the Detroit Red Wings-Canadiens game other than a Detroit regulation win. Also, if the Wings fall to the Habs in regulation, the Senators will clinch.
The Senators, winners of three straight games all without injured captain Brady Tkachuk, are two points behind the slumping Florida Panthers, who have won just three of their last 10 games, for third place in the Atlantic Division.
“It’s very important to them [to make the playoffs],” Travis Green told Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Citizen. “You go back to why you play the game. Every person who plays the game wants a chance to win a Stanley Cup, and that’s why you play.
“Everyone lives a good life when they’re in the NHL, and that’s nice, but at the end of the day, every person in this league wants a chance to win a Cup. The first step is you’ve got to make the playoffs to have that chance, and our group is hungry to have a chance.”
A top wild-card finish would likely mean a date against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round of the playoffs while grabbing the third spot in the Atlantic could mean a clash against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The 25-year-old Tkachuk has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury and doesn't appear ready to return after missing the morning skate in Columbus.
Tkachuk has 29 goals and 26 assists over 71 games this season and is on the verge of the postseason for the first since being drafted by the franchise fourth overall in 2018.
A major reason for Ottawa's turnaround this season is the play of their goaltending led by Linus Ullmark.
The 31-year-old Swede was acquired from the Boston Bruins over the summer and signed to a four-year, $33 million extension.
Ullmark has posted a 23-14-3 record alongside a 2.68 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage and four shutouts during his first season in the nation's capital.
“I’m happy the guys who have been here for a long time will get to play really meaningful games and battle for a Cup,” said Ullmark.
Ullmark and backup Anton Forsberg have recorded back-to-back shutouts against the Panthers and Blue Jackets as the team hasn't allowed a tally in 153 minutes. One more shutout will set a new franchise record for a single season.
“We’ve stressed (defence) a lot from the beginning, but you don’t have stretches like this without your goalies playing well,” Green said. “I don’t think the Tampa or Florida game wasn’t our best hockey, but our goalies played extremely well. We found ways to win."
Forsberg will get the start against the Blue Jackets.
Following Tuesday's road game in Columbus, the Senators return home for the final four games of the regular season against the Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes.
The Senators fell to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final the last time they made the postseason in 2017.