Will Ottawa look to Neil for physical boost?
NEW YORK — Is it Chris Neil time?
Perhaps the sight of Tanner Glass rubbing his hands together in glee, basking in the glory of pummeling Kyle Turris in the final minutes of the Rangers 4-1 win Thursday will cause Senators coach Guy Boucher to pull the trigger on dressing the 37-year-old veteran.
Or maybe it could be the site of Erik Karlsson lying on the ice, in pain, after engaging and losing a board battle with T.J. Miller — twice — that prompts Boucher to act.
All we could tell Friday is that the Senators coach was giving serious thought to employing Neil to return the favour, to try and dish out some punishment the other way.
“I consider everybody,” said Boucher. “Every game (the coaching staff ) sits down together. We look at everybody that’s available and why we want a certain player for where we are at that point. He’s part of the mix for sure.”
Boucher concedes that the tone of the series changed somewhat in Game 4.
“That game was more physical, but it wasn’t at (Canadian Tire Centre),” he said. “It has been a speed game since Day 1 and we still have to consider what this has been since the beginning. (Neil) is definitely in the mix. Just like (Thursday), we considered other guys and we weren’t sure whether (Zack Smith) was playing.”
It says here that the presence of Neil could, at least in a small way, provide a spark, especially in front of a home crowd.
A couple of big hits could put the Rangers defenders on their heels. His mere presence could also make the Rangers’ agitators more accountable when they hit the Senators top players.
If Neil does play, it could be his final appearance in a 15-year career that has included 1,026 regular season and 93 playoff games.
The counter-argument, of course, is that Neil hasn’t played since the final game of the regular season and could be a step or two behind the play, putting the Senators at risk of being burned on odd-man rushes.
The Rangers have already taken full advantage of three-on-two and two-on-one breaks in the series and their speed has caught the Senators off guard.
Yet the Senators did opt for speed in Game 4, with Ryan Dzingel receiving the nod over Tommy Wingels. Dzingel had a limited impact on the game, managing only one shot in 13:15 of ice time.