Ottawa Senators get back to work with pivotal homestand looming

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Is the Ottawa Senators’ season at a tipping point?

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We’re about to find out.

The four-game homestand that begins Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings at the Canadian Tire Centre could determine if the Senators can right the ship.

After arriving home from a three-game road trip through California with a 1-1-1 record, the Senators went back to work on Tuesday at practice to prepare for the visit by the Wings, and it feels as if this club is to start playing with consistency it has to happen now.

The days of moral victories in this market have long since passed and the Senators need to start getting results to make the playoffs. The club is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games, and getting back into the post-season picture means they need to string a few wins together.

The Senators went into Tuesday night’s action five points out of the final wildcard spot in the East, but the club was also only three points ahead of the last-place Montreal Canadiens.

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“Everyone is looking for success,” coach Travis Green said. “You look at the standings right now hovering around .500. The last I checked, I think one game over .500 is in a playoff spot. We’re two games under .500.

“Would we like to have a few more wins? Yes. We’re not looking behind, we’re looking ahead, and there are a lot of teams that are right there and are trying to get on a little run. You can’t get on a run if you don’t win the next one.”

The Senators have been plagued by inconsistency in virtually every aspect of their game. They’ve struggled to get saves from goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg when they’ve needed them most, they’ve been shoddy defensively and goal-scoring has also been an issue.

It has felt like, at times, that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, but Green is right because they’ve still got 58 games remaining and there’s time left to make the playoffs. The club closed out the trip with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

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Green believes the best bet for the Senators is not to look at the big picture and focus on the task at hand.

“We’re back home and we’re gearing up for the next game. We’ve got a young group and there’s still a lot of teaching to be done,” Green said. “Confidence is part of it, but also teaching maturity and staying with the game.

“But there are probably five or six teams that are probably saying the same thing right now that they’d love to get on a run. We’re no different, but you’ve got to win one in a row to get to two.”

FOUR NATIONS HOPEFULS

The rosters for the 4 Nations tournament being held in Montreal and Boston in February will be named by the NHL on Wednesday.

First up will be the representatives of Finland and Sweden at 2:30 p.m., followed by the players that will suit up for Canada and the United States at 6:30 p.m. on the nationally televised game on Sportsnet.

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Ullmark, who has a 5-7-2 record this season with the Senators, will likely be one of three goalies named to Sweden along with Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom.

A former Ottawa prospect, Gustavsson has been strong this season for the Wild and Markstrom has the Devils in a playoff position so it will be interesting to see where Ullmark fits on the roster.

Senators assistant coach Daniel Alfredsson may be named as an assistant on Team Sweden’s staff.

The Senators don’t have any players who will make either Canada or Finland, but the Americans will be interesting to watch.

We’re led to believe that Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk is a lock to play for Team USA. That will allow him to finally suit up with his brother, Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers, in a meaningful competition.

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Matthew, who won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last spring, was one of the original six players named to the American club in June.

Brady has 13 goals and 28 points in 24 games with the Senators this year and answered Team USA GM Bill Guerin’s call by taking part in the IIHF world championship with his country last spring overseas.

The interesting one to watch will be defenceman Jake Sanderson.

He was seemingly a lock for the roster coming into the season, but there are no guarantees he’ll make it after his underwhelming performance during the first quarter of the season.

Sanderson has one goal and 14 points in 24 games this season, but is minus-15. Eleven of his 14 points have come on the power play, and that’s not good news for a player who averages more than 22 minutes per game.

Sanderson is now projected to miss the roster in favour of the likes of Brock Faber, Adam Fox, Noah Hanifin, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Jaccob Slavin and Zach Werenski.

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