OTTAWA — There have been 325 shifts in total.

Bobby Ryan has pored over every one.

For it is in the video room where Ryan has turned for answers to the longest goal drought of his entire hockey-playing life. It is his preparation, his process. His attempt to expel any doubts from the back of his mind.

“I think I’ve watched every game four or five times,” Ryan explained Tuesday after putting in extra work at practice. “Looking for opportunities and things — holes in their game — and where I can generate more.”

There is a psychological struggle involved in every slump and this is as bad as Ryan has ever seen it: 15 games, with almost four hours of ice time and 40 shots, and still no goals at the most important time of year for the Ottawa Senators.

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Ryan was convinced the drought would end during Game 3 against Montreal on Sunday. He calls it his best performance in the last two months. There was one opportunity, in particular, when he tipped a shot over Carey Price’s left shoulder and began lifting his arms in celebration.

The only problem? The puck grazed by the outside of the post and crossbar.

“I was close to coming out of my skates when I jumped,” said Ryan.

And so he returned to the video room as the series broke for two off-days with the Senators facing a 3-0 deficit to the Canadiens.

Ryan is a 28-year-old veteran of more than 500 NHL games and has spent his fair share of time in the company of a sports psychologist. Those sessions have taught him the importance of visualization, especially during tough periods like now.

What’s most interesting about his pre-game routine is that it doesn’t involve thinking back to big goals. Instead, he largely focuses on plays in the defensive zone.

“You just kind of go over the highlights in your head of when you’re at your strongest what you’re doing,” said Ryan. “For me that’s always just coming back and moving my feet and finishing checks and then the puck starts to follow you a little bit.

“That’s what I try to get back to.”

From an Ottawa perspective, this has been a series of diminishing returns. Facing the best goaltender on the planet, Carey Price, the margin for error has shrunk with each passing game: The Sens have lost 4-3, 3-2 and 2-1.

The offensive burden does not fall solely on Ryan’s shoulders.

He wasn’t even among the team’s five players to crack the 20-goal mark during a regular season marred by a hand injury and the recent slump. From that list, Mike Hoffman (27 goals), Mark Stone (26) and Erik Karlsson (21) have also yet to score in this series.

“Our whole team isn’t exactly lighting it up,” observed head coach Dave Cameron.

But there is still an undeniable pressure on Ryan to produce offensively. The Senators rewarded him with a seven-year, $50.75-million extension back in October — the contract doesn’t kick in until next season — and that’s an awfully big commitment from a budget-conscious organization.

At least he’s seeing signs of progress.

Ryan goes through a mental checklist when he reviews tape of his shifts, and believes that his line with Mika Zibanejad and Milan Michalek is approaching a breakthrough. The chances are there and he’s feeling good on the ice.

“A lot of times you just couldn’t get the puck in that last five feet or you couldn’t get to where you were supposed to be or you guessed wrong or whatever,” said Ryan. “I don’t know, I’ve been telling myself the last week that nobody cares what happened if you score a big one right now.”

With Ottawa set to face elimination on Wednesday night, it’s probably the best attitude to have. There is little to be gained from straying from the moment.

Ryan has cycled through a bunch of sticks recently as part of an exhaustive look for something — anything — that might help his luck change.

“Any time you’re perceived as a scorer and you’re not scoring then your confidence is definitely down,” said Cameron.

“Mentally exhausting is a good way to put it,” Ryan added. “We all recognize (a goal) is right there; it’s just they’re not dropping. There’s not a lot of time left for it to turn.”

The search for answers, like the season, can’t go on forever.