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The Sens are in the playoff conversation to start 2023!!!!

January 3, 2023, 4:48 AM ET [67 Comments]
Kevin Francis
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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Since the Christmas break, your Ottawa Senators have won 3 of 4 games, while getting back into the playoff conversation sitting just seven points out of the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. It truly is excellent to see this team be relevant to start the New Year as they are now playing .500 hockey!

When Cam Talbot stood on his head in the win over the Boston Bruins prior to Christmas, his postgame on-ice interview stood out to me when he spoke up to the fan base saying, "let's pack this barn every night and have more nights like these" was so refreshing to hear. This coming from a player that has only worn a Sens uniform for almost half a season. His leadership has been superb and I must give Sens GM Pierre Dorion a ton of credit for upgrading the goaltending position the way he did this past summer. Talbot has started 15 of the 19 games and has been a workhorse for the Sens while helping vault the team back into the playoff picture.

Looking ahead to how the Sens' schedule shapes up for the month of January, they only play back-to-back twice while having two home and home sets with Pittsburgh and Montreal. They continue this important four game homestand tonight against Columbus, before hosting Seattle on Saturday and Nashville on Monday night. A total of 8 home games this month while only 6 games are on the road. February brings only ten games(6 at home, 4 on the road), but four sets of back-to-back games, which includes four divisional games.

When looking back at the breakdown of each month so far this season, Ottawa had a nice start going 4-4 in October, but it was the month of November that really put the Sens' in a tough spot while trying to stay in contention for a playoff spot, going 4-9-1. The month of December was dynamite as they went 8-4-2, while knocking off three teams that held down playoff spots.

With the hopeful return of Josh Norris in the very near future, one can only hope this team stays as healthy as possible while they continue to play their best hockey of the season. The playoff push continues tonight with a banged up Jackets team coming to town. Ottawa needs to win games they're expected to win like the one against Columbus.

Thoughts on how you see the rest of the Sens' homestand playing out?!

Lastly, I just wanted to end the blog with a massive thank you to the many who have reached out to me over the last few weeks. The support has been off the charts, thank you. I continue to grind out each day and focus on my mental health due to a variety of reasons that some of you are aware of. I apologize for not being active on social media like I normally am, but a few professionals in the field stressed to me to take time away from it until I'm feeling more like myself. The empathy that you have all shown me is something that I will never forget and I will absolutely pay it forward!

Thanks for reading.
Kevin
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