Senators 2 - 4 Devils
Final
  for this game

Sens aim to lock up East's seventh seed in Jersey

Apr 7, 2012 - 2:17 PM (Sports Network) - The Ottawa Senators figure to have a tough first-round matchup in the playoffs regardless of whether they finish as the seventh or eighth seed.

The Sens will try to close out their regular season with a victory this afternoon and build some needed momentum as they battle the postseason-bound New Jersey Devils.

Ottawa comes into play on Saturday as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with 92 points, setting them up for a first-round matchup with the Northeast Division-champion Boston Bruins. However, a regulation loss tonight to the Devils, coupled with a victory by the eighth-seeded Capitals and at least a point gained by the Southeast Division-leading Panthers would knock the Senators down to the eighth spot. That would make their first-round foes the East-leading New York Rangers.

The Devils are locked into the sixth seed with 100 points and will meet the winner of the Southeast Division.

Ottawa dropped its second game in a row on Thursday as it lost 3-1 to a Boston club that didn't even bring Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara or Patrice Bergeron to town.

Jason Spezza scored his career high-tying 34th goal for the Senators, while defenseman Erik Karlsson had an assist to up his point total on the season to 78, tops among all NHL defensemen. Ben Bishop made 24 saves in defeat.

Ottawa will clinch the seventh seed with a point tonight.

"We're just going to try to go out and play, try to stay away from bad habits and it will be what it will be on Saturday night," Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson said about their final game of the regular season.

Ottawa will look to close its regular season with a fourth straight road win and takes on a New Jersey club that carries a three-game winning streak at home into this matchup.

The Devils are also looking to peak heading into the postseason as they won their fifth straight game on Thursday to match a season high. Petr Sykora had the winner in the third period to lift New Jersey to a 2-1 win over Detroit.

Sykora reached 20 goals for the 11th time in his past 12 NHL seasons, while Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored. Martin Brodeur made 23 stops and logged 30 wins in a season for the 14th time in his career.

"These guys can roll lines all game at you and it's nice to get a win against them," said Brodeur. "We got some bounces tonight and we're able to take advantage of them."

New Jersey is 2-0-1 versus Ottawa this season and has won 11 of its past 14 at home in this series.






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