Sens stuck between sixes and sevens
Blowout pushes Ottawa to brink, but ‘today’s a new day’
The Ottawa Senators don’t have time to feel sorry for themselves.
Coming off a 7-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday to fall behind 3-2 in the Eastern Conference final, the Senators held a 25-minute practice at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre — what could be their final one this season if they can’t force a Game 7 — as they try to stave off elimination in Game 6 on Tuesday.
Captain Erik Karlsson, defenceman Cody Ceci and centre Derick Brassard, who all left the blowout loss early for precautionary reasons, weren’t on the ice but all are expected to suit up, while the possibility exists defenceman Mark Borowiecki could play for the first time since mid-April.
Before they skated, Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher and his staff went over the tape of the ugly loss. The advice he gave was simple: This is no time to sulk.
“Today’s a new day and we wanted to make sure we knew what we need to focus on and reload mentally, physically, emotionally and move on,” Boucher said Monday. “We can’t be sitting in our mud puddle — we’ve got to get up and go.
“That’s been what we’ve done all year and through the playoffs, so (Tuesday) we’re coming in fresh and ready to go.”
The Senators believe they faced this adversity before when they lost two straight to the New York Rangers in Round 2 to tie the semifinal at 2-2. But while the Rangers were talented, the Penguins are the defending champions and, despite Boucher’s argument to the contrary, Pittsburgh has got better in their two straight wins while Ottawa’s come apart at the seams.
“I don’t see a trend,” Boucher said. “I see one bad game.”
OK, but it’s hard to deny that the Penguins have made adjustments, and they shredded the Senators on Sunday. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray has allowed only two goals in the nearly nine periods he’s played since taking over for Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 3.
“We talked about it right after the last game: A loss is a loss,” Senators forward Zack Smith said Monday. “It doesn’t change the fact that the guys are embarrassed (about) the way it ended, but you’ve got to erase that right away.
“We kind of thought we had that put behind us and then we come out here to do media and then you guys remind us of exactly everything that happened and how bad and how terrible we were, but we’ve been putting it behind us since the end of the game. It doesn’t do us any good to dwell on it.
“It’s something for you guys to write stories about, but in our minds and in the room, we’ve put that behind us and we’re focused on tomorrow.”