After last night's games (Thursday, March 29), the Ottawa Senators sit six points behind the New Jersey Devils (who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-4). The Devils are in sixth place in the conference, the Senators seventh.

The Senators have the tiebreaker against the Devils, as well as a game in hand. But for the Sens to move up to seventh place, they're going to need help. The following is only one of a handful of possible scenarios by which the Sens could improve to sixth in the East.

First, the Senators will have to beat the Devils on Saturday, April 7. For both teams it will be their last game of the regular season. The Senators need the victory to ensure that they are tied for games won in their season series with the Devils.

Second, the Devils will also have to lose at least two of the three games preceding their season finale, in regulation.

Third, the Senators will have to win at least three of the four games preceding their season finale. They may win only one of them in the shoot-out.

Put it altogether: in order to move up to sixth place, the Sens have to win four of their last five, and the Devils have to lose three of their last four.

Go Sens! ... and whichever teams are playing the Devils.

The claim I'm making in the headline of this FanPost will probably strike you as odd. Surely the Rangers, who until they lost to the Senators last night led the league, were the biggest test of this team's mettle. Or else the Flyers were, from whom the Senators wrested 3 of 4 points in a home and home series, which, if it had ended poorly for Ottawa, would have us fans looking over our figurative shoulders at the Leafs and Devils instead of confidently predicting a play-off appearance in April.

But the Senators are winless against the Canadiens this season, and if they can't solve the Habs, two or three more losses against their division rivals could spell trouble for their play-off hopes.

Consider: During their present thirteen-game hot streak, the Sens' only regulation loss has been to the Canadiens, on December 27, and it was an embarrassment. In the two games they have played against the Habs thus far this season, the Senators have scored 3 goals and allowed 8. Craig Anderson has a goals-against-average of 4.50 versus the Habs this season, and a .818 save percentage; Alex Auld's is not much better. Erik Karlsson's plus/minus in games against the Habs is -5, his worst, so far as I can tell, against any individual team. The Habs are also one of only 5 teams whom the Sens have played at least twice against whom Karlsson has not scored any points (the others are Vancouver, Carolina, Boston, and Tampa Bay; it comes as no surprise, then, that the team's record in games played against these 5 opponents is a measly 4-5-2). And this is just to single out but a handful of players who have not looked good against the Habs.

It looks like the Senators have been able to 'get up' for tough opponents, lately, but the onus will be on them to 'get up' against lesser lights, such as the Habs on Saturday and the Hurricanes, again, next week.

The recent trade of Mike Cammalleri could help, but then again, the Sens haven't been able to take advantage of the Habs' other recent terrible decisions, like firing Perry Pearn or Jacques Martin; indeed, it was the Senators who gave Cunneyworth his first win as interim head coach of the struggling Habs.

So, strange as it may seem, it is arguably the game on Saturday against the bottom-dwelling Canadiens that will be one of the most important games for the Senators yet.

In light of the fact that the Senators are spending most of January on the road, I thought it would be fun to have a Silver Sevens Pub Night in Ottawa some time that month.

I was thinking the Lieutenant's Pump, on Elgin Street, would be a good place to hold it. The Pump has rooms which can be reserved for a large group, so if there was enough interest we could make a reservation; otherwise those interested could just congregate there (or somewhere else) and watch the game. I'd have to double-check that they have televisions in those rooms, or there wouldn't be much point in booking one.

The games that looked most promising are:

• @ Philadelphia, Saturday, January 7, 1:00 p.m.
• @ Montreal, Saturday, January 14, 7:00 p.m.
• @ Toronto, Tuesday, January 17, 7:00 p.m.
• @ Anaheim, Saturday, January 21, 4:00 p.m.

I wanted to avoid most weeknights, since we all work, but the Leafs are, as always, an exception, and of the six remaining away games in January, three start at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or later, anyway.

Let me know if you're interested, and to which (if any) of the games you'd be interested in going to see at a pub, either in the comments below, or e-mail me here or to the e-mail on my profile. Please feel free to bring friends: the more, the merrier.

I think I've made it clear that I'm not a fan of the trade on Saturday, December 17 that sent David Rundblad and the Senators's 2012 second-round pick to the Phoenix Coyotes for Kyle Turris.

However, it's worth looking at a few things. From some perspectives, the Sens gave up too much for Turris; from others, it may be that they did not. Basing the trade on the respective history of Rundblad and Turris before their NHL careers would lead one to think Ottawa has got the better of the deal; including their NHL careers thus far, it becomes less clear that Ottawa made a good deal at all. Finally, the value of the trade is, for the Senators, determined by its value relative to Turris's performance in an Ottawa uniform.

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Gabriel Landeskog was, as we know, drafted 2nd overall by the Colorado Avalanche just last week at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Given how high many of us, including myself, were at the prospect of drafting Landeskog back when it was still probable that the Senators would end up with a top-three pick, given his recognised talent and leadership, and given his love for the Ottawa Senators, I must admit that I am saddened that the team was unable to get its hands on the Kitchener Rangers star.

It is possible, of course, that Landeskog does not turn out to be the player he has been projected to become.

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Now that it is a couple of weeks past the trade deadline and the roster of the rebuilding Ottawa Senators is set until the off-season, for fun let's look at what the Senators might do next year.

Next year, in this case, begins when players can be moved again, and includes the draft. So in four months or so, we shall hopefully see the new general manager, whoever he may be, start making some moves.

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