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The Ottawa Senators will return to work on Friday morning with a simple task: Stay in the hunt.

Sitting in a playoff spot at the National Hockey League’s mandated three-day holiday break for the first time since 2016-17, the Senators will prepare to face the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night at the Canada Life Centre with five games left on this lengthy nine-game road trip.

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The Senators will play 22 games in the next 42 days before the NHL takes a break for the first Four Nations Face-Off, so this stretch will determine whether this club is a pretender or a contender.

The road ahead won’t be easy for the Senators who have posted an 18-14-2 record. With 48 games left on the schedule and the Senators in the No. 2 wildcard spot in the East, here are some keys to watch.

ULLMARK’S HEALTH

We’ll find out Linus Ullmark’s status when the Senators hit the ice on Friday.

He left the club’s 3-1 loss after the first. Coach Travis Green told reporters “his back tightened up so felt it was best that he came out.”

If it were just back spasms then the break would have been good for the 31-year-old Ullmark to get rested and he should be ready to play. He didn’t look any worse for wear in a photo posted on social media on Christmas Eve (Tuesday) so that’s a good sign.

The hope is he’ll be ready to play against the Jets.

Ullmark has played a pivotal role in the club’s success. He’s been the NHL’s best goalie in the last month, with an 8-0-1 record in his last 10 appearances and a 1.48 goals-against average, plus an impressive .952 save percentage and two shutouts.

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We’ll also find out if backup Anton Forsberg, who has missed four straight games with a lower-body injury he suffered on Dec. 14 in the gym before a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, is ready.

If Forsberg can’t suit up then Leevi Merilainen will be recalled from the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville and if Ullmark is injured then Mads Sogaard is also expected to be brought up.

But Sogaard did face the Toronto Marlies on Boxing Day at Scotiabank Arena so that’s a good sign that Ullmark will be okay. The club wouldn’t have risked injury with Sogaard if he was needed in Ottawa.

HEALTHY RETURNS

It’s been a month since defenceman Artem Zub broke his foot blocking a shot on Nov. 23 against the Vancouver Canucks. He was placed on long-term injury reserve with a timeline of eight-to-12 weeks for a return.

Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, initially tried to acquire a blueliner, but felt the cost was too high on the market and opted to have the answers come from within.

That’s forced veteran Travis Hamonic to play in a top-four role as Jake Sanderson’s partner and that wasn’t expected at the start of the season while Jacob Bernard-Docker has played with rookie Tyler Kleven.

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The Senators have posted an 8-2-1 record in December and a lot of that is thanks to Ullmark’s stellar play. The club’s six-game winning streak came to an end in Edmonton.

Winger David Perron has only suited up for nine games this season after signing as a free agent in the off-season. The 36-year-old missed a month for personal reasons and is now sidelined with an undisclosed upper-body injury with no timeline for his return.

Getting Perron back would give the club some much-needed depth and an option to play in the top six. Ridly Greig will be a good player down the road, but he’s not ready for the role he’s played at times.

BUYER OR SELLER

The NHL trade deadline is set for March 7 at 3 p.m. EST.

Staios should be ready to determine by the February break whether he’ll add or subtract from the Senators at that point.

If the Senators are going to buy, the club’s needs haven’t changed since training camp got underway in September.

The experiments in the top six haven’t worked and if Perron isn’t healthy then that’s an area that needs to be addressed. Adam Gaudette has played there at various times and he could be a solution but he’s also been used in

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The back end is an area where Staois has been looking for depth all season.

He studied the possibility of picking up someone on waivers before the year got underway, but couldn’t find the right fit.

Several league executives told Postmedia before the NHL’s roster freeze went into effect on Dec. 22 that the Senators were looking for a defenceman and had been for weeks.

There is talk the Senators kicked tires on Nashville defenceman Alexandre Carrier before he was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens. Perhaps, Staios looks at veteran Habs’ blueliner David Savard as a possibility.

We don’t know if Habs’ GM Kent Hughes would want to deal with the Senators but Savard, 34, won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning and would fit the mould of what the Senators want.

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