Hammond hardly the only hero in Senators' surge

OTTAWA -- Andrew Hammond has captured much of the hockey world's attention during the Ottawa Senators' run from outlier to Stanley Cup Playoffs contender in the past six weeks.

Though the 27-year-old "Hamburglar" embarking on his NHL career with a 14-0-1 record as a starter might be the biggest story, there are other significant reasons the Senators have overtaken the Boston Bruins for the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.

The return of veteran defenseman Marc Methot from injury to form one of the NHL's top defensive pairings with Erik Karlsson (who's in Norris Trophy form these days), the contributions of young forwards Curtis Lazar, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone, and the coaching of Dave Cameron have been keys to the Senators resurgence.

Andrew Hammond

Goalie - OTT

RECORD: 14-0-1
GAA: 1.67 | SVP: .946

Lalime, who works as an analyst for TVA Sports, was on hand at Canadian Tire Centre to interview Hammond on Wednesday.

Hammond tied Bruins goaltender Frank Brimsek's record of allowing two goals or fewer in the first 12 games of an NHL career.

Senators defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, asked if he knew about Hammond's latest shot at a record, quipped, "No. Which one's that? Hall of Fame? Fastest to be voted in?"

After a brief scare against the San Jose Sharks when Sharks center Logan Couture slid into Hammond and left him limping after the game, Hammond said will be fine when the Senators play the New York Rangers on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, MSG Plus).

"I got a little banged up, but today I feel good, so I'm good to go tomorrow night," Hammond said Wednesday.

"It's that time of the year where your body feels the bruises a little more, but I feel good. It's just minor. It's nothing serious that will keep me from playing and playing at a high level. It's something just a little ice will help, and so far it's been doing the trick."

After losing three games in a row, the Senators sunk to 14 points out of a playoff spot on Feb. 7. Since then they are 17-2-2.

The turning point, forward Bobby Ryan said, came seven games into that stretch when the Senators swept a California trip. They played three games in four days and won the first two, against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, thanks to shutouts by Hammond which set the tone.

Hammond was the only option in goal after injuries to Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner.

"When we started to win one or two there, then realized where we were at and what Hammond was doing, it went from being intimidating to, 'Hey, we can hang, we can do this,'" Ryan said, "and then all of a sudden the confidence just continues to grow and now we feel we can play against anybody. That California trip is what started it."

Methot returned to the lineup Jan. 8 after missing 37 games with back and hip injuries. The 29-year-old gives the Senators experience on the blue line and has a great partnership with Karlsson.

Since Feb. 10, Karlsson leads the NHL with 24 points, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Since the Christmas break, Karlsson is first in the NHL with a plus-25 rating.

"You look at [Karlsson] for us, he's been not only our best player, but the best player, in my opinion, in the League," Cameron said.

With veteran defenseman Chris Phillips out with a back injury since Feb. 7, Ryan said Methot's experience was needed.

"When [Methot] came back it settled down [Karlsson] quite a bit," Ryan said. "It's led to where he's been the last 25 games, it's just a confidence thing. He knows [Methot] is going to be there. He's an older guy and we didn't have that much on the defensive end. Once [Phillips] went down, there wasn't a lot of experience back there. He came in and kind of calmed things down."

The Senators have been able to roll four lines, thanks to the development of the young players.

Lazar, 20, and Pageau, 22, have been part of an effective third line with veteran Erik Condra.

"They're eating up a chunk of minutes every night. A lot of times they're getting some other teams' top lines in situations where they get caught and they're handling it," Ryan said. "They're very mature for their age and they're competitive. They're going to give other lines, no matter who they're playing, fits. For them to come in and contribute offensively is just a bonus right now. They've been able to give us a second and third option most nights that's been good."

Hoffman, 25, leads the Senators with 26 goals, playing on a line with center Mika Zibanejad, 21, and Ryan.

Stone, 22, is tied for sixth in scoring since Feb. 10 with 22 points.

"It's a credit to our scouting staff that identified players that aren't just good skilled guys in terms of passing, skating and shooting, but are guys who can think the game," Cameron said. "Our young guys have shown they can think the game. There just seems to be that calmness."

Since Cameron was named coach Dec. 8, the Senators are in the top half of the League in shot attempt percentage (SAT%) at 51.8, compared to 47.7 in their first 27 games.

"I think we're spending less time in our own zone and the reason we are is we're doing a much better job in the offensive zone," Cameron said. "We're on pucks, we're through pucks, we're holding onto them, we're making other teams defend and we're spending more time in their end."

Cameron humbly passed the credit for the Senators turnaround to the players.

"It's really satisfying because now I see the players getting rewarded for all the work they're doing. It's still about the players," he said. "This job of coaching, you're as good as your players. It's as simple as that. We're the flavor of the week. When things are going good, you're the smartest guy in the world. When things aren't going good, it's 'don't let the door hit you … on the way out' type thing. You understand that. It's nice to reap some benefits. It probably buys you a little more time.

"The nice thing is the players have bought in and they deserve all the credit."