Beating Boston clinches a playoff berth
Shootout victory over Bruins puts them in second place in Atlantic division
Welcome back to the Stanley Cup playoffs, Ottawa Senators.
With injured captain Erik Karlsson at home, the Senators secured a playoff berth with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
After the victory, a loud, boisterous cheer from the Senators dressing room echoed into the hallway at TD Garden.
“It’s just a great feeling,” defenceman Dion Phaneuf said. “You could see when we got the point and knew we were in. We knew we had pushed through a lot of ups and downs this year. We found a way to stick to it. (Thursday) was a game that was textbook the style we’ve played all year.”
Well, textbook minus the club’s best player, the best defenceman in the NHL. And by securing a playoff spot, the Senators will be able to rest Karlsson until the playoffs begin.
Kyle Turris scored the lone goal of the shootout against Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, while Craig Anderson shut the door on the Bruins.
The result keeps the Senators in second spot in the Atlantic Division with 96 points, one ahead of the Bruins.
The Senators have two games remaining — Saturday against the New York Rangers and Sunday vs. the New York Islanders.
The Bruins conclude their regular season Saturday against Washington.
“When you look at what these players have lived through and what the organization had to go through this year, the adversity that the players had to battle through, I can’t help but be proud of this group,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said. “For a coach, there’s no better reward.”
In the absence of Karlsson, the Senators did what they had to do, taking few chances in a tight, defensive struggle.
Alex Burrows scored for the Senators and Craig Anderson made 28 saves. Drew Stafford netted the Bruins’ goal, while Tuukka Rask faced 26 Senators shots.
“It’s just fitting that we get it done in a 1-1 style (winning in the shootout),” Anderson said.
“It’s a credit to the guys that were here all year, with all the extended leaves of absence to myself, Clarke (MacArthur) and key injuries throughout the year. It’s a testament to the guys for putting in the work and battling for each other and guys making the most of their opportunities.”
The Bruins were missing a star of their own. Brad Marchand, who has 39 goals and 46 assists, was serving of the first game of a two-game suspension for spearing Tampa’s Jake Dotchkin in the groin on Tuesday.
The Senators needed to rally to get the game to overtime.
After giving up a first-period lead on a Stafford power play goal, the Senators rallied with a spirited second period.
Following a sustained shift inside the Bruins’ blue line — one of their first extended stretches inside the zone — Alex Burrows
blasted a slapshot past Rask to tie the game 1-1. Rask couldn’t see the shot because Viktor Stalberg was providing a perfect screen.
Following the goal, the Senators pushed hard, showing more spark than they had in the opening period, when they were on their heels. Anderson stopped David Pastrnak on a breakaway with eight minutes left in the second to keep the game deadlocked.
Even though the Bruins had already secured a playoff spot, they had plenty of motivation in the fight to avoid a wild-card spot — and a first-round playoff date with Washington — and to try and secure second spot in the Atlantic Division, giving them home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
There was an edge to the game, with several heated battles. If the Bruins and Senators meet in the post-season, the feistiness will be raised several notches.
The Senators entered the game on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot. The magic number was at one. They wanted a win, of course, but knew they only a needed a single point to get in. Alternatively, they could have qualified if Tampa Bay lost to Toronto and the New York Islanders lost to Carolina.
With Karlsson out of the lineup, that was easier said than done, of course. There was a surprise return, however. Cody Ceci, who had been out with a lower body injury suffered April 1 in Winnipeg, stepped into the lineup, which meant Jyrki Jokipakka was a last-minute healthy scratch.