The Senators head into Pittsburgh with a little momentum and a little luck on their side.
Ottawa opens a two-game road trip Saturday night against a Penguins team that has spent much of the season trying to steady itself. The Sens got into town before Friday’s U.S. air travel shutdown, avoiding the kind of logistical mess that could have complicated the trip.
The timing matters because Ottawa is coming off one of its best stretches of the season. The Senators are 12-6-2, have won three of their last four, and have taken seven of a possible eight points over that run.
That has pushed them up to ninth in the NHL, even while injuries continue to chip away at their depth. In the crowded Atlantic, where Tampa, Montreal, and Boston have been rolling early, that still leaves Ottawa in a Wild Card spot for now.
The matchup also comes on the heels of a dramatic finish Thursday night, when the Senators beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in overtime. Shane Pinto scored twice, including the winner in OT, and in the process became the fifth player in Senators history to score an overtime goal on his birthday. The others: Radek Bonk, Mike Fisher, Thomas Chabot and Josh Norris.
Pinto now has 17 points in 20 games and sits third on the team in scoring. It’s starting to look like a true breakout season.
Thursday also brought Linus Ullmark back into the lineup after an eight-game absence with a lower-body injury. Ullmark has gone 8-1-0 and has been especially effective against Pittsburgh, posting a 1.62 GAA and .938 save percentage in 11 appearances.
Ottawa’s attack has been spread around, but Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson are still driving the offense. Stützle leads the Senators with 24 points and shares the team lead in goals with Batherson at 10. He also enters Saturday riding a four-game stretch with two points in each game, matching the longest such run of his NHL career.
The Senators have also held their own on the road, going 5-4-1 away from Canadian Tire Centre this season.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has been fighting through a rough opening 19 games. The Penguins are 7-10-2, tied for sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 27th overall in the NHL with 16 points. They did manage to win two of three on their recent western swing, but the bigger picture remains grim.
Sidney Crosby is still producing, though his numbers look unusual by his standards. The 39-year-old has 13 points in 19 games and sits fourth on the Penguins in scoring.
Erik Karlsson has been Pittsburgh’s most productive offensive piece. The former Senators captain has 19 points in 19 games and is one of 11 NHL defensemen scoring at a point-per-game pace through the first quarter of the season.
Even with that, the Penguins are already staring at a steep climb. They’re eight points and six teams out of the final Eastern wild card spot, and the margin for error is shrinking fast.
Saturday’s game is also the Penguins’ first at home after a week-long western road trip, and that can be a tricky spot to land in. Pittsburgh will also hold a pregame Hall of Fame ceremony welcoming back Marc-Andre Fleury, Larry Murphy, Jim Rutherford and Jack McGregor.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena.
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