GARRIOCH: The Ottawa Senators are on fire as they head into lengthy all-star break

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Ottawa senators spent Wednesday going their separate ways.

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While most schedules head to sunny destinations during this 10-day break, Ottawa coach DJ Smith will spend his well-earned downtime spending some extra time with his wife Christie and their two children at their off-season home in Windsor.

It also allows Smith to watch his son Colton prepare for three games with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and take some time to reflect on the club’s next opponents. There will be plenty of time for those plans when the Senators return to skate next Thursday at the Canadian Tire Center.

The Senators finished their schedule before the break by extending their winning streak to four straight Tuesday night with a dramatic 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens. The club ended January with an 8-6-0 record and won’t play again until they host the Edmonton Oilers on February 11.

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“They grind. (Josh) Norris’ injury probably brought us a little bit closer and we weren’t sure if Ridly Greig was ready, but he made a big difference for us,” Smith said after the win in Montreal. “The boys are just having fun.

“We don’t look at the table and start scoring a few goals. We’ve slacked off defensively (against the Habs) but the guys are having fun coming onto the rink and it’s amazing what can happen.”

Senators must maintain that stance when they return to work.

The club woke up at home on Jan. 22 after a disheartening 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets and sat 11 points clear of the last wildcard spot in the East. They were angry, they were frustrated and it felt like this season had reached the point of no return.

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“That was the low point for us,” said substitute captain Claude Giroux before facing the Habs. “We’ve been able to move back up the table and we’ve just dug a little deeper. Being able to have that resonance is tremendous for your group.

“We have a young group and to know that we can turn the page and move on and keep fighting is great to see.”

For those fond of pointing out that gaining ground is difficult, the Senators sat just six points behind the eighth-place Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of Wednesday night’s games.

Do the Senators need to play the track at a blistering pace to make the postseason? Of course, but the picture looks much better than 10 days ago and meaningful games in March are still possible.

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“It’s great to see and the team is in a good situation at the moment,” said reserve captain Thomas Chabot. “We have to go into the week off here and distract ourselves a little from the game and rest a bit. When we come back everyone will be fresh and ready to go.

“The way we’re playing, we’re holding the puck better, we’re making more space for each other, and we’re finding the second wave that’s coming onto the ice a lot more. That gives us a lot more time in the (offensive) zone every night, and every time you’re in the (offensive) zone you don’t have to defend nearly as much. This is a big thing for our team.

“There’s still a lot of things we need to work on, but there’s a lot of positives in the last four games.”

Wouldn’t the Senators like to keep playing when they’re so hot?

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“You always want to keep going and you don’t really want it to stop, but at the end of the day, this is a week that everyone is going to enjoy,” added Chabot. “Everyone has a lot of bruises and a lot of little things to take care of and this week will do a lot of good for our team.”

There’s been a lot of talk about the Senators struggling to even goals this season, but they did better at this stage. The club has 18 goals in four games, with victories over the New York Islanders, the Toronto Maple Leafs and beating Montreal in the two-game streak.

The key to all of this is trust.

“It’s good to go into the break feeling good,” said winger Alex DeBrincat, who scored his 17th goal of the season against the Habs. “Get your mindset, take some time out from the game and when you come back we just have to go back to the same game.

“I don’t think it really matters when the break is. It’s good to put the body back and recover and feel good about our game. It’s much better to go into the break with the good attitude we have and the way we play than losing four games in a row.”

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