HOBBLED BUT HOPEFUL
Alex Burrows is hoping his injured ankle will be strong enough to allow him to rejoin his Ottawa Senators teammates in a must-win Game 6 on Tuesday
Alex Burrows knows about ebb and flow. The injured Ottawa Senators winger watched helplessly Sunday as his club absorbed a 7-0 pummelling in Pittsburgh as the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins moved to within a victory of returning to the final. He also knows if his left ankle co-operates Tuesday, he could help reverse momentum in the Eastern Conference final because the ice is tilted in the wrong direction.
“You have to live in the moment and get over it,” Burrows said in an interview Monday. “We’ve had that approach the entire playoffs — don’t dwell on a loss and don’t get overly excited with a win.
“A lot of people counted us out after we lost two in a row to the Rangers. We showed great character coming back home and winning that Game 5, so I still have a lot of confidence in the group that we can turn this around.
“We’ve played well in two of the five games in this series and found ways to win. I can’t see why we can’t pull it off (Tuesday) by playing well defensively, frustrating them and getting a few bounces going our way offensively.” That’s Burrows. His glass is always half-full, even though cracks are now showing in the conference final. And if he can’t play and is reduced to the role of master motivator and ultimate cheerleader, he can spin some pretty good tales about how the playoff pendulum can swing.
Burrows has 19 goals in 85 career playoff games and scored some of the biggest in Vancouver franchise history. In the 2011 final, Burrows scored in overtime to give the Canucks a 2-0 series lead over the Boston Bruins. The Presidents’ Trophy winners were the better club. They had the top-rated offence and power play, the penalty kill was ranked third and goaltending was a mismatch.
Then came the Beantown beatdown.
Amid the late Aaron Rome hit on Nathan Horton and the cheap shots and the fights and 143 penalty minutes, the Bruins bullied their way to an 8-1 rout and followed it up with a 4-0 win in Game 4. The series was even, but momentum had swung.
And even though the Canucks prevailed 1-0 in Game 5, they then lost 5-2 and 4-0. They suffered a series of injuries, but it was the psychological hurdles they failed to clear and Burrows knows that’s what the Senators are facing. The Penguins are now healthier, have their mojo back and their speed game is intact.
“One of the reasons I took the trade at the deadline is that I could see from the outside that this team had a lot of good pieces,” added the 36-year-old Burrows. “And since I’ve been here, I’ve been impressed by the coaching staff and a tight group that cares about each other.”
Burrows has played on the Senators’ first line and first power-play unit with New Westminster native Kyle Turris. The Canucks never made a play for the centre when he held out in Arizona at the outset of the 2011-12 season because they had Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Cody Hodgson down the middle.
“I always knew he was good, but I didn’t think he was that complete a player,” Burrows said of Turris. “He had a lot of offence to his game and I thought he was more of a perimeter player, but he really gets to the inside and battles hard. And in the faceoff circle, he’s not afraid to push back. Even in scrums, the way he lays his body on the line, he’s just an allaround player.”
Burrows is buoyed by getting a two-year, US$5-million contract extension from the Senators, who had to part with prime prospect Jonathan Dahlen to complete the swap. The 19-year-old centre had 25 goals and 19 assists in 45 games with Timra IK in Sweden and is considered the Canucks’ second-best prospect behind Brock Boeser.
The Senators wanted Burrows for his grind, leadership and playoff pedigree. He scored six goals in 20 regular-season games, including two in his debut, but has been blanked in 15 post-season outings.
However, if the Senators can somehow rebound in the conference final — and Burrows’ ankle heals — then another shot at that elusive Stanley Cup will make it all worthwhile.
Burrows is housed in a hotel while his wife Nancy and kids Victoria, 6, Lexie, 4, and Jacob, 1, remain in Vancouver. There was a two-week spring break visit to the nation’s capital in early March that has been replaced by daily FaceTime visits — anything to make a difficult parting to chase a professional dream less cumbersome for everybody.
“My boy doesn’t realize it too much and it’s definitely tougher on the girls,” said Burrows. “We weighed the pros and cons (of the trade) and we made the most of it.”