Looking to give themselves a fighting chance for the postseason, the Ottawa Senators emulated the Minnesota Wild and found a red-hot goaltender.
With his perfect record to his NHL career on the line, Andrew Hammond will be in net again Tuesday for the Senators when they square off against Devan Dubnyk and the Wild, hockey's hottest team since mid-January.
Hammond has won his first five career starts, rescuing the Senators after both Craig Anderson (hand) and Robin Lehner (concussion) went down with injuries. He has posted a 1.00 goals-against average with two shutouts in that span to put the Senators (27-23-10) on the brink of their first six-game winning streak since Oct. 20-30, 2011.
"It's a great story," Ottawa goaltending coach Rick Wamsley told the Senators' official website. "There's a quiet confidence. We were unsure when he went in about how it was going to go and I think as the good performances and saves have stacked up one on top of the other, I think the confidence in Andrew has spread throughout the locker room."
Hammond's run has Ottawa in playoff contention ahead of the fourth game on its five-game road swing. The Senators are seven points behind Boston for the second wild-card position but have two games in hand.
Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman have helped the cause with six points apiece over the winning streak. Both players are tied for third among NHL rookies with 39 points, and each scored third-period goals in Ottawa's 4-2 comeback win over San Jose on Saturday.
Erik Karlsson also netted his 15th goal of the season, which ranks near the top of the league for defensemen.
"We're making a good push here," Hoffman said. "We're going strong and we just got to keep it going."
The Wild (33-22-7) have been on a tear for more than six weeks thanks to Dubnyk. Minnesota is 15-3-2 over its last 20 games -- the best record in the NHL since Jan. 15.
Dubnyk has started all 20 games, posting a 1.64 GAA and five shutouts in that time, and made 33 saves to beat Colorado on Saturday 3-1.
"It feels good," Dubnyk told the Wild's official website. "That had to be a playoff atmosphere, for sure. . . . When you get that emotionally involved in a game for 60 minutes and it comes down to the end, it feels that much better when the buzzer goes."
Dubnyk can set a franchise record with his 21st consecutive start Tuesday.
The Wild, who currently hold the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, bolstered their roster at Monday's trade deadline. Minnesota acquired defenseman Jordan Leopold from Columbus for defenseman Justin Falk and a draft pick and landed winger Chris Steward from Buffalo in exchange for a draft pick.
Leopold, a 13-year veteran, has three points in 25 games, while Stewart has scored 11 goals in 61 contests. Falk failed to record a point in 13 games this season.
Ottawa has shut out Minnesota in consecutive meetings. The Senators blanked the Wild 3-0 on Jan. 14, 2014, and by the same scoreline Nov. 6 when Hoffman scored twice for his first multigoal game.
The Senators scored on the man advantage in each victory and converted 2 of 3 power-play opportunities Saturday versus San Jose.
Minnesota has allowed one such goal in 44 penalty kills its last 16 games after preventing the Avalanche from scoring on seven chances.
