After losing five straight, the Ottawa Senators knew this Thursday/Friday back to back in Philadelphia and New Jersey would be two of their biggest games of the season.

Jean Gabriel Pageau registered his first in the NHL, Milan Michalek scored in his first game back and Craig Anderson stopped all 33 shots he faced as the Senators picked up a huge 2-0 win on Friday night and all but eliminated the New Jersey Devils from playoff contention.

With that ugly losing streak in the rearview mirror, the Ottawa Senators look to start a streak of a different kind.

The Sens are right back at it tonight as they visit a struggling New Jersey Devils team. Jersey has really hit a wall without Kovalchuk in their line up, losing eight straight and sliding out of the playoff picture in the East.  Meanwhile the Sens will have one of their best goal scorers back in action for the first time in over a month.

Paul MacLean and his team are stuck in one of their worst stretches of the season and it could not come at a worse time, with teams pushing for the final couple playoff spots.

The Ottawa Senators will look to get back on track in Philadelphia tonight where they’ll take on a Flyers team that has played well at home this season.  Philly has posted an impressive 12-5-2 record at the Wells Fargo Center and will obviously give a struggling Senators team all they can handle tonight.

Desperate for offence and stuck in the middle of a five game losing streak, the Senators are turning to Binghamton for help.

The Senators announced this afternoon that they have recalled forward Jean Gabriel Pageau from the American Hockey League. Pageau has appeared in 69 games with the BSens this season, racking up 7 goals and 29 points and a +8 plus minus rating.

(UPDATE 1:49 PM)- Thanks to everybody that took the time to enter today's contest and thanks to The613.com for supplying the prize.  I'll sort through the emails and contact the winner by 3:00 PM today.  As I mentioned below, we'll be giving away a couple T-shirts from The613.com in contests over the weekend.  Keep an eye out for details.

Much like in Florida the other night, the Ottawa Senators were the better hockey team on Tuesday night but come up empty.

The Sens got goals from Daniel Alfredsson and Guillaume Latendresse but Steven Stamkos scored late in the third period and former Senator Ben Bishop shut the door the rest of the way as the Sens fell by a 3-2 in final. The loss is the fifth straight for the Senators.

In the midst of one of their roughest stretches of the season, the Ottawa Senators hope an encounter with a familiar face can help get them back on track.

After a disappointing loss to the Panthers on Sunday night, the Senators continue their march through the state of Florida as they visit Ben Bishop and the Tampa Bay Lightning.  I used the term “must-win” before the game on Sunday and it certainly seems to apply again tonight in Tampa.

As good a distraction as the Rihanna picture was, the latest news to surface on Twitter on Monday seems a tad more significant.

Dan Seguin from CBC Ottawa tweeted this morning that Sens defenceman Erik Karlsson is back on the ice and skated for the first time since suffering what appeared to be a season ending injury.  Nothing to get excited about just yet but obviously a huge step in the right direction.

With the Ottawa Senators in the midst of a four game losing streak and the teams behind them gaining ground, Sens fans could use a distraction.

Right on cue-  Here is Rihanna sporting a Sens jersey for some reason during a recent night out in Hollywood.  At first I figured this was during a show here in Ottawa but it's apparently from a couple days ago. Welcome to Sens Army, Rihanna!