KARLSSON MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Rangers’ Lundqvist looked unbeatable, but Sens’ captain fires the game-winner home
Those who didn’t show up have no idea what they missed.
The Ottawa Senators opened Round 2 of the NHL playoffs on Thursday night with hundreds of empty seats at the Canadian Tire Centre. But those among the 16,744 who were on hand didn’t leave with an empty feeling, as the Senators pulled off a dramatic 2-1 victory over the visiting New York Rangers.
Captain Erik Karlsson came through in the crunch as he scored his first of the playoffs to secure the win with 4:11 left in the third. Ryan Dzingel also chipped in with a goal for Ottawa, while Craig Anderson was solid in net. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant but couldn’t do it by himself, as only Ryan McDonagh scored for New York.
One more time in the playoffs, the score was tight, but the Senators did a solid job controlling the play against the Rangers and had it not been for Lundqvist, then this one may not have even been close. Karlsson’s shot from below the goal-line bounced off Derek Stepan past Lundqvist to give the Senators the win and secure a 1-0 series lead.
After knocking off the Boston Bruins in Round 1, the Senators are well aware they’ve got their hands full with the Rangers. They’re a better team and they’re healthy.
“The depth they’ve got, they’ve got a ton of depth, a ton of speed up front, a solid defensive group and the goaltender to go with it,” Senators winger Clarke MacArthur said before the game. “They’ve got a really solid team over there and we’re going to have to have our best game to have a chance.”
Just when everybody was wondering if the Senators were ever going to beat Lundqvist, Dzingel’s first career NHL playoff goal with 1:21 left in the second tied it up 1-1. That goal came on Ottawa’s fourth power play of the night and it was the Sens’ 33rd shot of the game at Lundqvist.
Until then, the Rangers goaltender looked almost invincible. Viktor Stalberg was sent in on a breakaway and Lundqvist made a huge pad stop with three minutes to go in the second. Only moments earlier, with the Rangers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Anderson stuck out his pad to make a stop on Michael Grabner when he was alone in front.
Though the Rangers’ power play has been the NHL’s worst in the playoffs, the Senators gave them enough chances that the Blueshirts finally scored. With Cody Ceci off for tripping, McDonagh fired a shot from the point that Anderson may never have seen, and it beat him inside the post at the 7:10 mark of the second. That came on New York’s third power play of this game.
After 20 minutes, you had the feeling it’s going to be difficult for either team to score during this series. The first period ended in a scoreless tie with Lundqvist and Anderson both turning aside good chances. The Senators had three opportunities with the power play and couldn’t capitalize on any of them.
If you’re wondering how good Lundqvist performed, the shots were 21-12 in favour of the Senators after the first and a lot of those were big saves. He made a huge stop on Zack Smith, while Anderson made his best save on McDonagh after he split the club’s defence and went in alone.
The 21 shots in one period was a franchise playoff record by the Senators.
The Senators had two golden opportunities with back-to-back power plays in the first 10 minutes and couldn’t take advantage of either. Make no mistake, they had no shortage of opportunities, but Lundqvist was there to make the glove save and his best came when he robbed Mark Stone on the doorstep on the first man advantage.
Only moments earlier, Lundqvist had Mike Hoffman shaking his head, while Anderson got a little help from his friends when Grabner hit the post.
The Senators understand winning this series won’t be an easy task.
“They play the game fast and they play the game fun, so it’s going to be a good challenge,” Karlsson said before the game. “They should be the favourite going into this series. We’re going to take care of our stuff and the things we need to do well to have a chance to win this series.
“If we do all those things right, we’ll definitely have a chance.”
The Senators certainly got off to the kind of start they wanted. They’ll host the Rangers in Game 2 on Saturday, with the chance to move into the driver’s seat before the series moves to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.