Boucher’s players have spoken: They want true grit on the ice

As much as Guy Boucher believes that “rest is a weapon,” he has witnessed the even greater value of true grit at this time of the hockey season.

It has almost always separated the men from the boys in the NHL playoffs.

True grit is what the Senators so clearly lacked in their early playoff years — most noticeably in the annual Battle of Ontario losses to the Toronto Maple Leafs — and it was also obviously missing from Ottawa’s arsenal in Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden last week, which is why Ryan Dzingel was replaced by Chris Neil for Game 5.

“To make a chocolate cake, you have to put chocolate in your cake,” Boucher told reporters in French immediately after another dramatic win that improved the Senators record to 5-1 in overtime games. “If you put vanilla in, it’s not a chocolate cake. When you had speed with a guy like Dzingel, it’s contagious for the other guys. “Same thing when you had grit.” It took a mugging in New York to prompt it, but at least the adjustment was made. And he’s not about to reverse the switch now, with the Senators headed back to the scene of the crime.

Boucher didn’t have to waste his breath by announcing Neil will be in the lineup when Ottawa attempts to wrap up its Eastern Conference semifinal against the Rangers at MSG on Tuesday.

The players made the decision for him on Saturday.

When Kyle Turris rebounded from a Tanner Glass punch in the face to play the best and toughest game of his career, then says Neil, despite seeing just five shifts, was the Senators most “important” player, the coach heard it.

When Derick Brassard, who sent the game into the overtime Turris won, said how “excited” he was knowing Neil was going to be in the lineup, Boucher noted that, too.

Same way he made a mental note when, just five minutes after the Neil-Tanner incident, the Senators strike for two goals in a 33-second span to take their first series lead since Game 1.

On a day when the most frequent scrapper in franchise history couldn’t beg Glass to drop his gloves, his teammates fought back from two deficits to take control of a series that looked completely lost.

In 146 seconds of ice time, Neil registered one hit, ripped Glass’ helmet off and dropped a left bomb on the top of his head. Much of the grit he provided was in a stare. It’s also known as intimidation.

Without Neil’s presence and protection in Game 5, the Senators would have been flying to their funeral on Sunday. Instead, Eugene Melnyk is guaranteed at least another million or two with one more home game, and possibly a few more.

Should that be enough for the Senators to offer Neil another one-year contract for next season, even though he’ll be 38? He couldn’t crack the lineup at the end of the season, but for the team’s most important game, he was its most important player.

If not Neil, fine, but this whole exercise had better taught the Senators a lesson. Theirs is a soft team, particularly up front.

One of Pierre Dorion’s top offseason priorities needs to be true grit.

Glass would be a good addition. He’ll be an affordable UFA, and he’s only 33. Don’t be fooled by his refusal to fight Neil. It was on the coach’s orders. He’s tough. And he can skate.

But all that can wait for another day, of course.

Right now, the Senators have a monumental task at hand. They have the chance to get to only their third Eastern Conference final in 25 years. Getting the job done at MSG will be extremely difficult, but with Neil in the lineup, at least they won’t be the pushovers they were last week.

Glass will again try to weaken their will, and this time, expect it will be him sending out he invitation to Neil for a dance.

“He’s playing well for them,” Neil said on Saturday. “The first two games he didn’t play, and he’s come back in and he’s effective for them.

“Just goes to show you there’s still room in the game for guys like him and me. That’s what it comes down to.”