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OTTAWA -- For the past month the Ottawa Senators have been focusing on playing better hockey while keeping a close eye on the Eastern Conference playoff race. And with one game remaining before the Olympic break, Ottawa finally has a chance to crack the top eight in the conference standings. Ottawa (26-21-11) visits the Boston Bruins (36-16-4) on Saturday afternoon hopeful theyll have a hold on a playoff spot once the dust settles. Trouble is, the Senators are in a very tight race and winning still might not be enough. Ottawa has 63 points heading into Fridays action, one behind Detroit for the final wildcard spot. But the Columbus Blue Jackets also have 63 points and more wins. Columbus faces San Jose on Friday night and a Blue Jackets win will leave Ottawa outside the top eight regardless of Saturdays outcome in Boston. And theres also the matter of the Red Wings, who face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. So should either Detroit or Columbus win, nothing would change for Ottawa. "Its a competitive group of teams thats fighting for that spot," said Ottawa defenceman Marc Methot. "It keeps you honest. I like it. "It makes it competitive and it makes every game that much more important and those are easy games to get up for. Its going to be competitive and I bet its going to get right down to the last week of the season." Ottawa is in playoff contention thanks to posting a 9-3-4 mark so far in 2014. The Senators feel as long as they can remain competitive they should find themselves in good standing at seasons end. "Were playing better hockey, were playing more consistent," said captain Jason Spezza. "A win in Boston would go a long way for us to keep moving in the right direction so its a good opportunity for us to win another game and keep grabbing points." Spezza finds himself on a nice roll, having recorded seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last five games. While the Olympic break might not be ideal, the Senators feel they can take advantage of the practice time and return to action with confidence. "Im real proud of the little stretch of good hockey that weve been playing lately," said Methot. "If theres any way to go into the break its playing properly and good structured hockey and as a team right now were clicking. "You just hope after a little bit of a layover with the break, so to speak, well come back just as strong. Im sure well be putting the work in as soon as were all back together." While holding down a top-eight spot by the Olympic break would be satisfying, centre Zack Smith believes even being within reach is a positive sign. "Weve come a long way in the last month and a half or so," said Smith. "Weve won some big games and theres a few that obviously wed like to have back. "Theyre all emotional games right now so its nice to get points and stay in." But with the teams Ottawa is chasing also winning, that makes the Senators task that much more difficult. "Theres not much separation or breathing room it seems," said Smith. "Everything can change within a few hours so you have to wait and check scores to see whats going on." But one benefit of a tight race is it makes every game important. "Every night youre playing for something and you know the points are that much more important," said Smith. "Its exciting to. "Win or lose you know it has a lot of influence on where your spot is and what position youre in." Should Ottawa be unable to crack the top eight by the break, Smith said there will still be plenty of time for the team to make a move. "When it comes down to it, theres still a lot of games left after the break," said Smith. "Its still a long season. "If we dont win a game or say we lose two games in a row were still not out of it by any means. Its good for motivation." NOTES -- Craig Anderson will start in goal against Boston . . . Forward Stephane DaCosta was re-assigned to the AHLs Binghamton Senators on Friday. In eight games, DaCosta had three goals and an assists . . . Defenceman Chris Phillips will miss his seventh straight game with a lower-body injury Saturday. Phillips skated on his own prior to practice . . . Defenceman Erik Karlsson was given a maintenance day Friday . . . Head coach Paul MacLean shuffled all of his lines at practice. But he said not much should be read into it as he was just having some fun . . . Most of the Senators said theyd be keeping a close eye on the Olympic action but also were looking forward to having a little down time. Pierre Desir Jersey . The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monacos serve to go up 4-3 in the decisive set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena. The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South Americas biggest city. Paul McQuistan Jersey . David Griffin was promoted from interim GM on Monday by owner Dan Gilbert. He says Irving was not consulted on Browns future and any insinuation that he pushed to have him fired is "patently false. http://www.shopjerseysbrowns.com/Womens-John-Greco...ic-Jers ey/ . That four-game skid in early January seems as if its a long time ago. Kessel scored twice, James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist and the Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win. Desmond Bryant Jersey . Cammalleri scored two goals, Corban Knight netted the winner in a shootout, and the Flames erased a two-goal deficit in the third period to beat the Stars 4-3 on Friday night. Jim Dray Jersey . And the Ottawa Redblacks linebacker wanted to be sure his words delivered their full effect. "Its an insult," he said over the phone Wednesday after the CFL Players Association lifted its media ban, giving its members the ability to speak openly about stalling collective bargaining talks.As Alex Kovalev has left the NHL for the KHL, firing shots at reporters and coach Cory Clouston this week, a conflicting picture gets painted over a player that played 1,302 games, scoring 428 goals and 1024 points (along with 45 goals and 100 points in 123 playoff games), won a Stanley Cup and was often regarded as the most talented player on virtually every team for which he played. Given those accomplishments, why would there be a downside to consider? In Kovalevs case, to some degree at least, its because he was cursed with superior talent. When a player has Kovalev-like talent, expectations are going to be astronomical and, when it comes to Kovalev specifically, its incongruous for fans to hear other NHL players talk in reverential tones about Kovalevs outrageous skill level, then see that in his last seven NHL seasons, he had three years in which he scored at least 65 points and four seasons in which he tallied fewer than 20 goals and 50 points. So, when David Perron (an elite stickhandler in his own right) and Mike Commodore came to Kovalevs defence on Twitter they, not surprisingly, met resistance from fans that havent consistently seen results commensurate with Kovalevs other-wordly skill. At the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference this year, there was a panel in which the topic of underachievers was discussed and NBA star Tracy McGradys name was brought up by both former coach (Jeff Van Gundy) and GM (Darryl Morey), as a phenomenally gifted player that could accomplish so much due to his skill level that he wasnt necessarily driven to work on other facets of his game and it may have caught up to him when the competition picked up (ie. the playoffs). Recently retired NFLer Randy Moss would hardly be considered an underachiever in the classic sense, but the common perception was that, as great as he was, scoring 153 touchdowns in his career, Moss could have been even better if he had the drive of Jerry Rice, for example. Some parallels might be drawn to Kovalev. Not that he struggled in the postseason; since 1990, his 45 playoff goals ranks 23rd in the league. But, as age caught up to Kovalev, like it catches up to all eventually, he couldnt just get by on being the most talented puckhandler on the ice and thhe results werent good.dddddddddddd Beyond the goal or point totals, though, the evidence that Kovalev was not a factor in his last two seasons could be found in shots on goal numbers. In 2009-2010, Kovalev managed 2.14 shots on goal per game (165 in 77 games) and followed up with a career-low 2.04 per game (151 in 74 games) last year after finishing with a miserable 1.40 per game (28 in 20 games) with Pittsburgh. At his peak, Kovalev was putting up nearly four shots on goal per game and even had 2.80 per game as recently as 2007-2008. That Kovalevs play declined in recent seasons is no indictment of his entire career, however. Many great players have seen dramatic drops in production as they hit the twilights of their careers, so Kovalev isnt necessarily any different in that regard. Where Kovalev tends to get burned in the court of public perception is that his talent suggested a player capable of being more dominant if he applied himself more consistently. Fans see what Kovalev did for Montreal in 2007-2008, scoring 84 points in 82 games as a 34-year-old or a three-year stretch from 2000-2003 during which Kovalev scored 248 points in 224 games and wonder why there werent more of those electrifying seasons. The picture painted by Kovalevs talent is that he should have managed more than three point-per-game seasons in 18 NHL campaigns. Matthew Barnaby weighed in as well, complimenting Kovalev as the most skilled player he ever played with or watched, while suggesting that Kovalev might be the only 1,000 point scorer to be considered an underachiever. There have been and will most certainly be elite players that accomplish more in their careers than Alex Kovalev. Whether thats because those players are more driven, are in better situations or, in the rarest of cases, are more talented, Kovalev wont be considered among the all-time greats. That can be the curse of superior talent. Great accomplishments, that only the tiniest percentage ever have a chance to achieve, are not enough when you have seemingly unlimited skills. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
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