After seeing their six-game winning streak snapped, the Ottawa Senators look to get back in the win column when they host Martin Havlat and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday (CBC, 7 p.m. ET).
Ottawa (22-8-3) enjoys a six-point lead over New Jersey atop an Eastern Conference that is otherwise tightly packed, with just five points separating the second seed from the ninth.
After a hot start to the season, the Senators slipped at the end of November and into December, losing seven straight from Nov. 21 to Dec. 4. But Ottawa rebounded in a big way, winning each of its next six games.
That streak came to an end Thursday night in Atlanta, where the Thrashers handed the Senators a 3-2 defeat.
Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber made a season-high 42 saves but still suffered his first loss in four games.
"It wasn't a great effort for us," centre Chris Kelly said. "I think the score might have been a lot worse if not for Gerber. He kept us in the game."
With a 3-1-0 record and 1.85 goals-against average in his last five appearances, Gerber appears to have regained the No. 1 goalie job — at least for now — from Ray Emery, who has struggled to return to form after off-season wrist surgery.
One of the faces trying to beat Ottawa's goalie on Saturday will be familiar to Senators fans. Forward Martin Havlat is set to make his first appearance in Ottawa since being dealt to Chicago in July 2006.
Havlat had an assist in his only career game against the Senators, a 4-3 shootout win in Chicago on March 4.
"It's going to be special to come back there and play in my first game," said Havlat, the Senators' first-round pick in 1999. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately. There were so many good nights in that building, so many special moments and the thing I enjoyed the most was that we always had a team that made the playoffs.
"We always had a chance every year. The winning, and having the chance to win, was always something I enjoyed. That's what every hockey player wants to have in his career."
The dynamic 26-year-old is one of the reasons the Blackhawks (16-15-2) can dare to eye their first playoff berth since the 2001-02 season.
Though he missed 22 games early in the campaign with a shoulder injury, Havlat is averaging a point a game, registering five goals and six assists in his 11 appearances.
Strangely though, Chicago has fared better without Havlat in the lineup. The team is 4-7-0 when he plays, and 12-8-2 when he sits out.
The Blackhawks were one of the league's biggest surprises with a 14-9-2 record through November, but they have cooled off with a 2-6-0 record this month.
Chicago looked like its old self Wednesday as Robert Lang and Patrick Sharp each scored twice and Havlat notched three assists as the Blackhawks took advantage of struggling Nashville for a 5-2 victory.
Dustin Byfuglien also had a goal for the Blackhawks, who scored on three of their first four shots for a 3-0 lead after one period.
"When you get off to a start like that, it's easier," Lang said. "It puts them on their heels. It's nice to have a game when you're in charge, in control the whole time."
Sharp's first goal was his league-leading sixth short-handed. The Blackhawks lead the NHL with 11 short-handed scores, and no other team had more than six entering Friday's play.
Chicago has won three of its last four against the Senators, but Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin is just 1-5-1 with a 4.18 goals-against average in his last eight starts against Ottawa — all coming while he was with Tampa Bay.
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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