Sens must add firepower to their national defence
The Ottawa Senators still have a lot of heavy lifting to do if they’re going to lift the Stanley Cup over their heads this spring.
With the Eastern Conference final shifting to the Canadian Tire Centre for Game 3 on Wednesday, the Senators say they’re happy to leave Steel City with a split. It became a best-offive affair after a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday in Pittsburgh.
There wasn’t any cause for concern in the Senators’ world after they failed to score on any of the 22 shots they fired at Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. And they didn’t seem the least bit fazed about a span of 18:53 that bridged the second and third periods in which Fleury didn’t have to make a single save.
As the Senators met with the media at their downtown hotel before boarding a charter back to Ottawa, they sounded quite happy and felt they were sitting pretty — home advantage is now theirs, beginning with Wednesday’s 8 p.m. game.
“We came here to win at least one game and we did the job,” Senators head coach Guy Boucher said Tuesday. “We played five of six periods really well and we know we didn’t play as good in the third period. We didn’t manage the puck like we did the previous five (periods). We gave away the puck way too many times and we didn’t go to their net as much as we could. So we didn’t do enough in the third, and that’s where we lost the game.
“But overall, if you’d have told me we’d be in the conference final and it’s 1-1 against Pittsburgh, you can’t be more positive than that.”
True enough, but these are the defending Stanley Cup champions, and they are a bigger test than the New York Rangers or the Boston Bruins. Coming into the conference final, few gave the Senators a chance, but the Penguins were obviously banged up and perhaps a little vulnerable. They didn’t have Bryan Rust and Justin Schultz by the end of Game 2, and started the night without winger Patric Hornqvist — but they didn’t miss a beat.
The Senators understand they must elevate their game to win, whether it’s a low-scoring contest or not. The third period on Tuesday wasn’t pretty because the Penguins were pushing the pace and the Senators didn’t have much of a response. Only after Phil Kessel scored the game’s only goal did the Ottawa bench gain a sense of urgency.
“We learned a few things. We didn’t generate a lot of offence. We played a solid defensive game, kept them on the outside,” Senators winger Tom Pyatt said. “But I think they spent a little too much time in our zone, and obviously we need a better offensive effort for Game 3. We were sitting back a little bit too much.
“Our defensive game, that’s our strength. We’re going to stick to that, but at the same time, we have to find a way to generate some more time in their zone and get some more pucks to the net, because I think we were stuck at 16 shots for a long time the second half of the game.”
The Senators did a solid job in their 2-1 overtime win in Game 1 on Saturday. So what changed?
“I don’t know. It’s a great question,” Ottawa defenceman Marc Methot said. “We knew that (Pittsburgh) was going to come out flying and give us their all, certainly after they took the loss in that first game. You know, the pressure was on.
“They delivered. They played great. Again, it was a 1-0 game. There were long periods of time when we were in our zone and whatnot, but I think a lot of that was perimeter play. We didn’t give them the middle too often, and I think that’s a credit to our defensive play.”
Now, for the first time since 2007, when they faced the Buffalo Sabres — a series they would win en route to the Cup final — the Senators will suit up in the East final at home. They’ve shown resilience throughout this season and this will be a true test.
“We need to show it every game. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Boucher said. “Every game is difficult. We’re playing the best team in the league — we’re playing the Stanley Cup champions. Every game is going to be a hard-fought game, and we’re giving it everything we’ve got to win another game.”