The Senators will wake up Tuesday morning where they wanted to be.

And, where so many never believed they would be.

There may not be any stopping Andrew “The Hamburglar” Hammond and the Senators now as they bit back at the San Jose Sharks by scoring four unanswered goals in a third period comeback to move ahead of the Boston Bruins for the final wildcard playoff spot at No. 8 in the East with a 5-2 win.

The Hamburglar made 29 stops and is an incredible 14-0-1 as the Senators extended their streak to seven straight wins to move one point ahead of Boston as Mika Zibanejad scored twice while Mike Hoffman, Alex Chiasson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also chipped in front of 18,193 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Yup, the burgers were flying with Ottawa 15-1-1 in its last 16.

Fourteen points out of a playoff spot on Feb. 8, the Senators have done the unthinkable in this remarkable run.

Only Chris Tierney and Joe Pavelski were able score for the Sharks. The Senators haven’t been in the playoff picture since Nov. 22 so this must feel pretty good.

“If we took care of home ice and took pivotal points we could control on our fate,” said winger Bobby Ryan.

“(It will mean) quite a bit (to look at the standings and be No. 8). It’s been 20-or-so games building into this.

“There will be a sense of accomplishment but at the same time you can’t take it for granted. Get a little rest and get ready because Boston is going to win games. Everybody is.”

There was a scary moment in the third when The Hamburglar was slow getting up after getting crashed in the crease by San Jose’s Logan Couture.

At one point, inexperienced backup Chris Driedger warmed up, but Hammond remained to finish the game, however, he didn’t speak after the game because of treatment.

“There’s a lot of guys in getting treatment. Everybody who played is going to be available next game,” said coach Dave Cameron.

Trailing 2-1 in the third, Zibanejad, who took a Mike Hoffman shot in the chest late in third and left, tied it with his second at 2:19 by going upstairs on Niemi.

That set up Chiasson to score the winner at 12:11 and then Pageau put it away at 13:23 as the place went into absolute hysterics.

“I honestly didn’t think we’d be in this position judging by the way we were playing,” said defenceman Marc Methot.

“You can’t lose faith I guess.

“Sure enough, guys are playing the right way and we’re playing with so much pace. We have a goaltender who is playing incredible for us. Everyone is buying in. Everbody is skating, everybody is moving their feet and we’re causing a lot of problems for our opponents.”

This game changed in an instant.

While the Senators had the better chances, the Sharks pulled out to a 2-1 lead just past the midway point of the second when they struck twice in a span of 30 seconds. Hammond couldn’t do much on either play but the sequence sent shockwaves through the building.

Tierney scored going to the net on a 2-on-1 and just chipped it by Hammond on a backhand at 13:16 to take the lead.

Pavelski opened the scoring at 12:47 when he was left alone in front to put home a juicy rebound with Mark Borowiecki in the box for tripping on a questionable call.

If the Sharks were supposed to be playing desperate hockey they certainly didn’t look like it and the Senators took advantage of that fact to pull out to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Zibanejad, going to the net, scored his first in nine games when Mike Hoffman’s backhander deflected by Niemi at 14:09 of the first.

The play was reviewed by the NHL’s head office in Toronto but it was determined Zibanejad didn’t make a distinct motion when the puck went off his knee.

“It feels good and I think being able to enjoy (being in the playoffs) for at least a day is nice,” said Zibanejad, who had his second two-goal game of the season.

“We get back at it on Thursday. We’ve got 10 games left and we’ve just got to take it from there.”

The Senators are off until they host the New York Rangers Thursday so they’ll get a couple of days to relax and get ready.

bruce.garrioch@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @sungarrioch

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