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OTTAWA -- For the past month the Ottawa Senators have been focusing on playing better hockey while keeping a close eye on the Eastern Conference playoff race. Cheap Air Jordan Online . And with one game remaining before the Olympic break, Ottawa finally has a chance to crack the top eight in the conference standings. Ottawa (26-21-11) visits the Boston Bruins (36-16-4) on Saturday afternoon hopeful theyll have a hold on a playoff spot once the dust settles. Trouble is, the Senators are in a very tight race and winning still might not be enough. Ottawa has 63 points heading into Fridays action, one behind Detroit for the final wildcard spot. But the Columbus Blue Jackets also have 63 points and more wins. Columbus faces San Jose on Friday night and a Blue Jackets win will leave Ottawa outside the top eight regardless of Saturdays outcome in Boston. And theres also the matter of the Red Wings, who face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. So should either Detroit or Columbus win, nothing would change for Ottawa. "Its a competitive group of teams thats fighting for that spot," said Ottawa defenceman Marc Methot. "It keeps you honest. I like it. "It makes it competitive and it makes every game that much more important and those are easy games to get up for. Its going to be competitive and I bet its going to get right down to the last week of the season." Ottawa is in playoff contention thanks to posting a 9-3-4 mark so far in 2014. The Senators feel as long as they can remain competitive they should find themselves in good standing at seasons end. "Were playing better hockey, were playing more consistent," said captain Jason Spezza. "A win in Boston would go a long way for us to keep moving in the right direction so its a good opportunity for us to win another game and keep grabbing points." Spezza finds himself on a nice roll, having recorded seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last five games. While the Olympic break might not be ideal, the Senators feel they can take advantage of the practice time and return to action with confidence. "Im real proud of the little stretch of good hockey that weve been playing lately," said Methot. "If theres any way to go into the break its playing properly and good structured hockey and as a team right now were clicking. "You just hope after a little bit of a layover with the break, so to speak, well come back just as strong. Im sure well be putting the work in as soon as were all back together." While holding down a top-eight spot by the Olympic break would be satisfying, centre Zack Smith believes even being within reach is a positive sign. "Weve come a long way in the last month and a half or so," said Smith. "Weve won some big games and theres a few that obviously wed like to have back. "Theyre all emotional games right now so its nice to get points and stay in." But with the teams Ottawa is chasing also winning, that makes the Senators task that much more difficult. "Theres not much separation or breathing room it seems," said Smith. "Everything can change within a few hours so you have to wait and check scores to see whats going on." But one benefit of a tight race is it makes every game important. "Every night youre playing for something and you know the points are that much more important," said Smith. "Its exciting to. "Win or lose you know it has a lot of influence on where your spot is and what position youre in." Should Ottawa be unable to crack the top eight by the break, Smith said there will still be plenty of time for the team to make a move. "When it comes down to it, theres still a lot of games left after the break," said Smith. "Its still a long season. "If we dont win a game or say we lose two games in a row were still not out of it by any means. Its good for motivation." NOTES -- Craig Anderson will start in goal against Boston . . . Forward Stephane DaCosta was re-assigned to the AHLs Binghamton Senators on Friday. In eight games, DaCosta had three goals and an assists . . . Defenceman Chris Phillips will miss his seventh straight game with a lower-body injury Saturday. Phillips skated on his own prior to practice . . . Defenceman Erik Karlsson was given a maintenance day Friday . . . Head coach Paul MacLean shuffled all of his lines at practice. But he said not much should be read into it as he was just having some fun . . . Most of the Senators said theyd be keeping a close eye on the Olympic action but also were looking forward to having a little down time. Air Jordan 19 For Sale . -- Josh MacDonalds second goal of the game kept his team alive as the Peterborough Petes edged the host Kingston Frontencas 6-5 in overtime on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. Discount Air Jordan . An in-person hearing allows for Garbutt to be suspended for five games or longer as per the leagues Collective Bargaining Agreement. Garbutt delivered a high hit to Penner in the second period of Sundays game. https://www.wholesalejordanshoeschina.com/ . With the results, North America claimed 2.5 of the three available points, opening up a 17.5-12.5 lead in the overall standings. A total of 60 points are available, meaning the first team to 30.5 points will win the Continental Cup.At the morning skate, head coach Randy Carlyle insisted Tuesdays poor effort against the Florida Panthers would not be soon forgotten, calling for a bounce back performance on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After a similarly dubious start – failing to register a shot until the 9:50 mark of the first period – the Leafs turned things around, controlling much of the final 50 minutes en route to a 4-1 victory. "Huge, big," said Jonathan Bernier on the importance of the win. "I thought we started slow a little bit but when we got that power play we got our legs and momentum back." While the Leafs did not score on the power play late in the first period, it did shift the play into the Lightning end consistently for the first time after Toronto was on their heels in their own zone for much of the first ten minutes. "Definitely," said Carlyle, agreeing that that was when the momentum turned. "We didnt have anything going for ourselves but then we hemmed them in their zone, we had the puck in their zone for probably a minute and a half. Didnt score on it but we created some momentum for ourselves and thats when we started to play." The win brought the Leafs to within one point of the Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division with one game remaining for each team prior to the Olympic break. "Well outside of the first ten minutes, I thought we played a pretty solid game," said Carlyle. "We gave up some chances but we created some chances with our forecheck and we were opportunistic in the hockey game. We needed a response from our effort the other night and we got it tonight." Five Points 1) Shifting The Lines For the second straight game, Carlyle experimented with his line combinations, this time right from the start. Dressing eleven forwards (only three centres) and seven defencemen, Carlyle found a recipe that yielded three dangerous lines throughout the game. van Riemsdyk - Bozak - KesselLupul - Kadri - ClarksonRaymond - Kulemin - BodieMcLaren - McClement Gunnarsson - PhaneufGardiner - FransonRielly - GleasonRanger Carlyle employed Jay McClement on the second and third lines in key defensive zone faceoff situations and cycled Phil Kessel, Joffrey Lupul and David Clarkson through as the extra wingers on the fourth line. "We tried to create a little more balance," said Carlyle. "With Clarkson coming back into the line up, we felt we could move him up. Kulemin going to the middle allowed him to use his strength and ability to get on pucks. Bodies been playing very well and we felt that we owed him more minutes and when you have Mason Raymond on that line, they can create things." The experiment, which Carlyle indicated had been considered for a couple of days, paid off for the Leafs with each of the top three lines contributing a goal. 2) Gleason, Bernier Take Umbrage To JT Brown With less than two minutes left, JT Brown drove to the net with the puck, running over Jonathan Bernier, creating a scrum behind the net after Bernier and then Gleason took offence. "Its a 4-1 game and theres a minute and a half left and you can see hes doing it on purpose to run into me," said Bernier. "I just didnt like that move." "I guess he could pull up a little bit, didnt look like he was stopping anytime soon," added Gleason, who drew praise from Bernier for stepping in to defend him. The ruckus even drew Lightning netminder Cedrick Desjardins from his net but Bernier admitted he never had a notion to engage him. "Yeah I saw him, but at this point in the season, you dont want to get hurt," said the Leafs goalie. "You have to make the right decision." 3) Paul Ranger Returns To Tampa Paul Ranger had not played since January 7 against the New York Islanders – a span of 14 games – but drew bback in against the Lightning when Randy Carlyle opted to dress seven defencemen. Air Jordan Sale. Making the return even more significant was the fact that it came in the building Ranger spent the first five years and 270 games of his NHL career before taking a three year sabbatical from the NHL. "Heck yeah it does, a lot," Ranger said on TSN 1050 Radio at the first intermission when asked if his return to Tampa meant anything extra to him. Ranger said he got the news that he would play just before the warm up, a gesture from Randy Carlyle that he sincerely appreciated. "I thanked (Carlyle) for letting me play in this game and giving me an opportunity to contribute," Ranger said after the game. 4) Gleason Gives His Dad a Show Eleven years in the NHL has afforded Tim Gleason the opportunity to bring his dad Kevin on several team road trips. But they hadnt been fruitful trips until tonight. "Long story short, my Dads been on about seven or eight of these ("Dads trips") and we have yet to win one until tonight," said Gleason. "So Im going to have a beer with my dad on the plane." 5) Gone Fishing The Maple Leafs took advantage of their afternoon between games in the Sunshine State on Wednesday to embark on a fishing trip with their fathers organized by Paul Ranger, who became familiar with the sights in Tampa Bay during his five season spent with the Lightning. "I havent done much fishing in my lifetime; I was kind of a newbie," said Nazem Kadri, who caught a small shark. "But it was fun, especially being out with the guys, pretty much the whole team went so it was good just to be surrounded with that environment and have some fun with it." Accompanied on the trip by expert guides, Cody Franson explained that he enjoyed learning about some of the strategy behind successful fishing. "Fishing with guides, it was pretty interesting to see the sport behind fishing," he said. "We go fishing back home and sometimes you go out for three or four hours and dont catch anything but these guys, its a game for them and they know what theyre doing out there." Jake Gardiner, who grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, said his father John is far more of an experienced fisherman than he is, though he had some success of his own, with a couple of different bites. Holding onto them proved harder than catching them though. "I was surprised about how slimy those things were," Jake explained. "I dropped it once and could barely hold onto it the second time. Its not like fishing in Minnesota, theyre a lot slimier here, I think they need that to survive." Stats Pack: 9:50: Leafs register their first shot; made it 6-1 Lightning at the time12-9: Shots after first period in favour of Leafs36-34: Total shots in favour of Leafs44-22: Faceoff wins in favour of the Lightning3/14: Kulemins night in the face off circle, centering Raymond and Bodie12:52: Ice time for Ranger in his first action in 14 games12:21: Ice time for Bodie1: Power play opportunity for each team14: Penalty minutes incurred by Tim Gleason, stepping in to defend Jonathan Bernier after the netminder was run over by JT Miller late in the third period Quote of the Night: "Id rather a guy pull me out of the pile and do something instead of fill me knowing that Ive got no hands. It is what it is; hes frustrated but at least pull me out of the pile and do it than throwing them from nowhere. We got two points so I could care less really." – Tim Gleason on Radko Gudas jumping into the scrum that developed after JT Brown ran over Jonathan Bernier Up Next: The Maple Leafs return home to Air Canada Centre to face the Vancouver Canucks at 6pm on Saturday night. The Canucks beat the Leafs 4-0 on November 2 in their previous meeting, the same game David Bolland went down with a severed tendon. ' ' '