BOUCHER STICKS WITH PAT HAND IN GAME 1
Guy Boucher has options and that’s not a bad problem.
As the Ottawa Senators opened Round 2 of the NHL playoffs Thursday night at the Canadian Tire Centre, the coach decided to hold off on putting Tom Pyatt back in the lineup. The veteran winger missed the final two games of the Senators’ playoff series against the Boston Bruins with an upper body injury.
After taking an elbow to the head from Boston defenceman Kevan Miller in Game 4 of the series, Pyatt looked like he was ready to return at the morning skate. But he was used as the 13th forward and, though he was supposed to be a game-time decision before the series opener against the New York Rangers, the decision was made to hold him out.
Pyatt didn’t take part in the pre-game warm-up.
Boucher has often been the kind of guy who doesn’t like to change a winning lineup, but the Senators acquired depth at the deadline so he doesn’t have to stick with a player who is struggling and can afford to make changes. Decisions in the playoffs are under an even sharper microscope because so much is at stake at this time of the year.
Meanwhile, there is no progress to report on the status of defenceman Mark Borowiecki. He has been dayto-day since he left Game 2 of the Senators’ series against the Bruins and hasn’t skated with the team since then. Borowiecki has been back on the ice on his own, but didn’t take part in the morning skate, so there’s no timetable for his return.
Defenceman Chris Wideman, a healthy scratch in Game 6 against the Bruins, sat for the second straight contest because the Senators decided to stick with Fred Claesson.