THEY’RE UP 2-0, BUT SENS AREN’T ABOUT TO LET UP
Ottawa expecting Rangers to bounce back as series moves to Madison Square Garden
The Ottawa Senators were all business as they headed to the Big Apple on Sunday afternoon.
They may be up 2-0 in their Eastern Conference semifinal against the New York Rangers after a thrilling 6-5 doubleovertime victory at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday, but the Senators know they haven’t won anything yet and there’s a lot of work left to do if they’re going to win this series with Game 3 set for Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.
The Senators didn’t go on the ice Sunday. Instead, they met at the Macdonald-Cartier Airport and boarded their Air Canada charter. It was a day to rest, relax and recover before they hit the ice Monday morning for practice in Manhattan.
“On my God, we have everything to do,” head coach Guy Boucher told reporters Sunday before leaving Ottawa. “It’s not like (their) last series, where they won the two games on the road (against Montreal) and they’re coming home. We won at home — games we have to win at home — and now we’re going to play in their barn.
“We enjoy playing there, I think we did well there, but at the same time we know the kind of urgency they’re going to bring to the next game. I know they talked about reloading because they’ve got two days off and figuring out what they have to do (to) beat us and I think we have to do the same. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and make sure we’re not surprised by anything they’re going throw at us.”
Yes, the Senators had timely goals Saturday to come back from a two-goal deficit in the final four minutes — especially with the four-goal effort from centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau — but the game was far from textbook. The club went zero for four on the power play, gave up two short-handed goals and allowed 48 shots on Craig Anderson.
The Sens will never be perfect, but they can improve, and that’s why they’re buoyed being up 2-0 in this series because they likely haven’t played their best game yet. Mistakes happen in hockey, but Boucher doesn’t like the kind of chances they’re giving up. They allowed two short-handed goals on Saturday and trailed by a pair for much of the contest.
Ottawa had success this year because the team played with structure, and Boucher felt the club did a better job once it went to the extra period, cutting down on the scoring chances on Anderson.
“Our overtime was really good. I thought we really looked like ourselves and I thought we cleaned up a few things that we don’t want to see,” Boucher said.
After Game 1 on Thursday, Boucher felt the Senators would need 40 shots per game on Henrik Lundqvist to have success. That theory went out the window in Game 2 when Ottawa scored six goals on 28 shots, which should bode well for their confidence going into these next two games on the road.
“We’re going into their building and we know that they’re going to come (out hard),” defenceman Dion Phaneuf said. “(Saturday) we got lucky in that we were able to find a way, but we can’t spot them those leads because when you’re chasing a game, it’s going to eventually catch up to you.
“But we’re really happy with finding a way but we know we have to be better.”
The Senators have a great opportunity in the next two games. Not only can they push the Rangers to the brink of elimination in Game 3, the Senators have a chance at the first playoff sweep in team history.
The Rangers served notice in Saturday’s second period that they’re tough customers. They controlled much of the play, made life difficult for the Senators and didn’t give them much. The key for the Senators was their ability to respond, and that’s something they’ve been able to do all season.
Getting the two wins at home was a huge step for the Senators.
“We wanted to cement home ice and we’re fortunate to have home ice in the second round,” winger Mark Stone said. “We weren’t at our best (Saturday), we got a big penalty kill with six minutes left in the game and then (Pageau) made two big plays to get us to 5-5.
“At this time of year, you have to find ways to win. No game in the playoffs is easy to win. For us, I think that last four minutes (of Game 1) we kept it quite simple. You look at the goals, none of them were pretty, perfect plays.”