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Coming into Monday night’s match with the San Jose Sharks, the Senators have won 15 of their past 18 games and are a single point behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The hero of the late-season surge is callup goalie Andrew Hammond, whose “Hamburglar” nickname is drawn from a masked troublemaker in a series of McDonalds advertisements.

Now the fast food chain is getting a lot more mileage from a character it largely retired a decade ago, and it reinforced the connection Saturday with a promise that fans at the arena would be able to redeem their ticket for a free regular hamburger on Sunday if the Sens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs that night. The offer was in addition to the free Big Mac burger fans already get if the team scores in the last minute of the third period.

With Kyle Turris sending the puck to an empty net at 19:13 to seal a 5-3 victory, fans had no reason to go hungry.

Photo by Pat McGrath / Ottawa Citizen

The run has been good for team revenue. The last two games at the Canadian Tire Centre were sellouts, with more than 19,000 hockey lovers filling every seat, according to the hockey club.

That excitement has also translated into more support in the streets. According to Eric Green, a representative from the Sens Store in Place d’Orléans Shopping Centre, Senators-themed car flags are in high demand.

“We’ve had so many people looking for car flags,” Green said. “They’re showing support. I’ve noticed over the past few weeks fans are so positive and pumped and just ready to talk hockey – it’s infectious.”

Shaila Anwar, a Senators season ticket holder for 20 years, eats a burger before every game for luck.

“It was raining hamburgers in the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday (after a win over Boston), it was great,” said Anwar. “I mean, people who don’t even follow hockey are hearing about this craze. It gives them something to be interested in because it’s fun.”

Added the long-time fan: “The thing that sells sports to a city is either hope or winning. Somehow we have both right now.”

agosselin@ottawacitizen.com