Signs of a turnaround for the Ottawa Senators are appearing everywhere; Cory Clouston seems to be finding his groove as the new head coach of the Ottawa Senators. After four games, Clouston has finally found a way to motivate his team enough and coached them out of a three game losing streak. As of late, the young coach has been able to provide his Senators with an extra jump in their stride.
Dany Heatley’s offensive play as of late has shown sudden signs of life as he has netted three goals in four games. Jason Spezza has also stepped up his offensive presence as he posted two goals and two assists in the past four games. The Captain of the Sens, Daniel Alfredson, has apparently been taking a greater leadership role in the dressing room. This could mean the return of the forceful, and much dreaded Big Three Offense. The improved play could not have came at a more pivotal time for the Sens as the playoff picture heats up.
The Senators put together four straight wins for the first time this season. The small streak includes a series sweep over Buffalo in a home and home. This isn’t necessarily a large accomplishment against a struggling team like the Sabers, but at this point in the season the Sens will take anything they can. Winning the home and home series against the Sabers must have tightened some loose bolts on the team as the Senators came out strong Thursday night and put away the Flyers, who currently sit fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They followed it up Saturday with a big come from behind win over Minnesota.
Rookie goalie Brian Elliot has taken over the starting role for the Senators and in the past four games (all wins) he has averaged 25 saves and only allowed 8 goals in total. He has rewarded the Sens for placing their confidence in him with his stellar play, though he struggled some on Saturday.
Last month the Sens were only able to muster up four wins in 12 games, raking in just 10 points towards the standings. So far this month, with Clouston behind the bench, they have taken 9 points in seven games (all in the last five). If the tear continues, they could be looking at their best month of the year (their previous month high was 11 points).
Despite the results for the Senators they have not been tested by the best teams. Their next two games (Nashville and Colarado) continue the line of teams all sitting around the .500 marker. The Senators next real test does not come until they play at home to the Vancouver Canucks on the 19th. The Canucks are currently 13-9-4 on the road this year, with Daniel Sedin in the top-20 for scoring and Roberto Luongo sporting a .913 save percentage.
A home stand spanning from February 24th to March 11th gives the Sens a chance to win some fans back as they host provincial rivals Toronto on two separate occasions. They also play against the Sabers, whom they beat to start their recent hot streak. Hopefully the eight straight home games will help the Senators improve their 12-9-5 home record, possibly projecting them into late season playoff contention.
Yes it’s true, the recent play of Ottawa has been impressive in comparison to the first half of the season, but is it enough? Are the Senators going to be able to turn their season around enough to move up four spots (representing 14 points) in the standings with only 28 games remaining? The team remains optimistic but many outside viewers think that the recent spark in play is just too little and too late. Personally, I think they’ll need their big stars to continue to step up and get more contributions from role players like Mike Fisher and Chris Kelly, but the Eastern Conference playoff picture is open enough for the Senators to sneak in.