Lazar show takes stage as Flames visit Senators (Mar 09, 2018)
OTTAWA -- At this point, the Ottawa Senators figured Curtis Lazar would be one of their top young forwards, providing the same grit and character he did as captain of Team Canada's gold medal-winning entry in the 2015 world junior championships.
Instead, Lazar will be making his first trip to Canadian Tire Centre on Friday as member of the Calgary Flames, still trying to get his NHL career on the track it was projected to follow.
Lazar, the Senators' first-round pick in the 2013 entry draft, was traded to the Flames a little more than a year ago after 176 games with Ottawa in which he scored 12 goals. He has three in 55 games for Calgary since the deal.
"I have no regrets from my team in that organization at all, so I'm going to go out there and I'm going to be the happy-go-lucky Curtis with that big smile on my face," Lazar, now 23 years old, told the Calgary Sun on Thursday. "If (the fans) want to boo, they can boo. If they want to cheer, they can cheer. I mean, nothing changes for me.
"I've played so many games there that maybe it's going to be weird. I guess I'm the bad guy now, but I'm happy with the way I carried myself during my time in Ottawa. I can not make a fool and go in the wrong penalty box or do those type of things. It's another game, and the bottom line is they're going to be trying to play spoiler and we need points at this time of year."
That they do.
The Flames (33-25-10) have one win in their last five games (1-3-1), a 5-1 decision over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. They sit two points out of the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Johnny Gaudreau leads Calgary with 20 goals and 56 points after recording three assists in his last two games.
The Senators (23-32-11) fell 4-3 to the Sabres in a shootout on Thursday in a game center Matt Duchene said he thought his team "dominated" its opponent.
Ottawa is two points ahead of Buffalo, which sits last in the Eastern Conference standings.
"It's business as usual here," said Duchene about the team's approach through the final four weeks of the season. "We come to the rink every day and prepare the same way as if we're in first place in our division. We're doing that for the future. We know that this is not a team that should be where we're at. This is a playoff team, as it is right now.
"It's one of those seasons that didn't go our way. We're trying to get better and get ready for next season."
The Flames are expected to start goaltender Dave Rittich, who made 25 saves during the slump busting win in Buffalo before losing his shutout bid with 17.2 seconds left on the clock.
Playing the second of back-to-back games, Senators coach Guy Boucher will likely start Mike Condon between the pipes.
