OTTAWA — A five-game homestead couldn’t come at a better time for the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators are riding a four-game losing streak — their longest of the year — so after opening some space between themselves and the pack in the NHL’s Eastern Conference, they are falling back.

If the key to earning a playoff berth, as Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson says, is “to keep the winning streaks as long as possible and the losing streaks as short as possible,” Friday night’s game against the New York Islanders represents a big moment in the season.

A loss would mean the Senators would hold a two-point advantage over the Toronto Maple Leafs heading into Saturday night’s Battle of Ontario game at Scotiabank Place.

“These next two games are real important for us,” Senators centre Jason Spezza said. “We’ve lost four games in a row and people are catching up to us. You win four in a row and you give yourself a little bit of space. But as soon as you lose a couple, the pack catches up to you. It’s that competitive right now.”

The Senators need roughly 34 points from their remaining 29 games to reach 94 points, the amount generally seen as the cutline for playoff teams.

“It always seems like when you’re winning, it’s easy to keep winning,” said Spezza. “But when you’re losing, it’s tough to find your way out of it. So now we’ve got to find our way out of it.”

Asked if Friday’s game could represent a turning point for the team, Alfredsson said: “If we win, it is.”

That said, Alfredsson subscribes to coach Paul MacLean’s belief that the team’s focus has to be short range.

“I’m going to stick with saying ‘One game at a time,’ ” said Alfredsson.

Ottawa Citizen