Flames-Senators Preview

With the Ottawa Senators growing frustrated with their poor play at home, perhaps a visit from the struggling Calgary Flames could help.

As the Senators look to avoid opening with five straight home losses for the first time, the Flames try to avoid being swept on their three-game trip Wednesday night.

Having matched a club record by losing its first four home contests, Ottawa (3-3-2) isn't offering any excuses for its 0-2-2 start at Canadian Tire Centre.

"It wears on you. Fans come and they pay their money and they want to see wins," forward Bobby Ryan said after Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Arizona. "You can't stay in the hunt losing points at home."

The Senators have scored nine of their 23 non-shootout goals and gone 1 for 14 on the power play at home. They've also allowed at least three regulation goals in each game.

It's all left coach Dave Cameron at a loss to explain why.

"As a coach you look for indicators," he said. "You look for the practice, you look for how they're carrying themselves, you look for how they are at the meetings when you're preparing them, for signs that they're not into it. I didn't see any of that."

Veteran goaltender Craig Anderson is 3-1-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average on the road but is 0-1-1 with a 2.89 GAA at home. Andrew Hammond, however, could be back in net and looking to improve after yielding four goals during a 5-4 shootout home loss to New Jersey on Thursday in his season debut.

Ottawa has won three straight at home over Calgary despite yielding 10 goals.

The Flames (2-7-0), though, have not registered more than three goals in any contest this season and were outscored 8-1 while dropping the first two of this trip.

"We need to be consistent," coach Bob Hartley told the team's official website. "That's one thing ... this league is too good to pick and choose when you're going to be good."

The Flames recorded 21 shots in the second and third periods but had nothing to show for it in Monday's 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders.

"We've got to turn this around," defenseman Mark Giordano said. "We can't have too many more of these or it will get away from us pretty quickly. We have to keep grinding and not let games slip away."

Though Johnny Gaudreau leads the team with 10 points, he hasn't scored in the last seven contests and has only one goal this season.

Ottawa's Mark Stone, who tied Gaudreau with a rookie-high 64 points last season, has recorded all three of his points at home in the last three games.

After Joni Ortio made 31 saves in his first start of the season Monday, Jonas Hiller could be back in Calgary's net. Hiller is 2-3-0 with a 3.52 GAA and was pulled for yielding four goals on 21 shots in Sunday's 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers.

Hiller is 4-0-0 with a 1.47 GAA against the Senators as a starter, but hasn't faced them in that role since October 2013.