Coach confident senators can move in the right direction

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Ottawa senators will be in Hollywood on Sunday night to wrap up their four-game road trip through California and Nevada.

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The Senators completed a quarter of the National Hockey League’s regular season schedule Friday with a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks, just 45 minutes down the Orange County highway.

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As the Senators prepare to face the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena, they hope Friday’s victory over the Ducks will help them maintain some consistency.

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They can still improve in every aspect of their game, but the Senators have shown in Anaheim that they are head and shoulders above the worst teams in the NHL.

No, no results in the first 20 games, but Friday’s performance confirmed that the Senators should be better than 7-12-1. It had nothing to do with taking a lucy break, but about total dominance in every category.

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“Anyone can beat anyone in this league,” said Senators head coach DJ Smith after skating for 35 minutes at the Toyota Sports Center on Saturday. “Maybe I was a little bit depressed mentally after losing a few games, but I kept playing, had chances and played with a really good team that didn’t get results.

“I think if we were more consistent and believed a little more, we could beat a lot of teams.”

The points the Senators missed in their first 20 games hurt this the most. Fans are pointing fingers in all directions and demanding change, but the Senators are saying the night they were completely beaten I don’t think there were many.

“If we win three more times, the sky is not falling,” Smith said. “After that, everyone felt good and it was easy to get, but it’s not. So what are we going to do about it? We have to win next time.”

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All members of the media love to find out where their teams are at this time of the season. The 20-game mark usually falls around Thanksgiving in the United States, so there’s a lot of naval scrutiny around the Senators.

Anyone who says they have all the answers to their club’s problems really doesn’t. The bottom line is that the Senators have to score more consistently and field better.

I’m stuck in a rut and I’m trying to dig it out now. They need a win to feel good about themselves.

“There’s the same feeling in the dressing room and on the bus, they’re really young players. It’s amazing how they feel and how they act when they come out victorious,” Smith said. . “This is a young group that puts a lot of pressure on to win every day.

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“When things go wrong, that’s the biggest challenge. When you win, figure out why you won and do it again. Our team is figuring out how to manage the pack. We learned a lot of valuable lessons early on[of the season]when we shot ourselves in the leg.

Going into Saturday’s game, the Senators trailed the Carolina Hurricanes by 10 points for the final playoff wildcard spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference. This is a huge mountain to climb and the chances are slim, but there is still time. They just need to put together some victories.

“There are 62 games left in the season, and it’s not quite how the first 20 people envisioned it,” says Smith. “If you look at some of the teams who have performed very well in his first 20 games, several teams in that group are at the bottom of the league for expected goals.

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“Eventually we will level it out. All we can do is focus on the next game and take advantage of the next series of games and keep winning.”

After an offseason full of offseason changes by general manager Pierre Dorion, this is where no one expected, but Smith hopes his players will get caught up in the negativity surrounding the club. I’m not here.

Instead, Smith was upfront with his message

The Senators added forwards Alex Devlincat and Claude Giroud and goaltender Cam Talbot in the offseason, but suddenly switched to challenge after 27 points from a playoff berth last spring. I knew I couldn’t.

Smith says the best bet isn’t to look at the big picture, but try to focus on playing the right way each night and giving yourself a chance to win.

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“We need consistent wins,” Smith said. “If you don’t win, answer quickly with a great game and don’t let it be a losing streak. Maybe you’ll be on the right track in a row.”

“The limited number of chances we gave up recently should help.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/sungarrioch