Sens know score at crunch time
Hurt Karlsson, Brassard, Ceci expected to face Penguins in season-defining Game 6
OTTAWA— The Senators are facing the stark reality of the Stanley Cup playoffs: Win Tuesday night and keep their dream alive, or lose and forever wonder what might have been.
“We’re so, so close you can taste it,” said defenceman Mark Borowiecki, “but there is still so much work to do. You can’t let it overwhelm you.”
The Senators, who were long shots to make it out of the first round, now face elimination for the first time in these Stanley Cup playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lead the Eastern Conference final 3-2.
“It really is a funny thing,” Borowiecki said. “It has turned into a series of one-games. You win the next game to earn the right to play one game to move on. It’s not easy. That one game is a little bit different than a Tuesday night wherever in the regular season. You’re scratching and crawling to move on.”
Borowiecki, who led the NHL with 364 hits in the regular season, was one of a handful of Sens who practised Monday and is hoping to get back into action after recovering from an injury in Game 2 of the first round against Boston.
The playoff grind has challenged the depth of both teams.
Injured Ottawa winger Alexandre Burrows is doubtful for Game 6, said coach Guy Boucher. Three key Senators who didn’t finish the 7-0 blowout by Pittsburgh in Game 5 — defencemen Erik Karlsson and Cody Ceci, and centre Derick Brassard — also didn’t practise on Monday, but are expected back in the lineup for what promises to be an emotional game.
Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, Justin Schultz, Patric Hornqvist, Scott Wilson, Chad Ruhwedel and Tom Kuhnhackl also skipped Monday’s optional practice, with coach Mike Sullivan saying all five are day-to-day.
“We’ve done a good job with different guys coming in and out of the lineup,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby told reporters in Pittsburgh. “Guys are going to be missing extended periods of time. We don’t know who’s in the lineup and who isn’t. Just going game by game helps you focus.”
The spanking Ottawa took Sunday combined with the pressure of an elimination game have brought focus to the Senators’ task as well.
“It’s a tough situation to be in,” said winger Viktor Stalberg, one of a handful of ex-Leafs in the lineup. “Any time you’re on the brink of elimination it’s a show of character. We’re been a resilient group in these playoffs, and we like our chances.”
The Senators have lost back-toback after taking a 2-1 series lead. They didn’t lose three in a row in regulation time all season, but the stakes have never been this high.
“That’s where we have to be smart,” Boucher said. “In those moments where you get all emotional — driving, running around everywhere … if it’s just about emotion, you’re not going to have a good game . . . I have total confidence in them that they will (play) smart. The players have recognized (when) they have gotten overexcited.”
The Penguins say they’ll need to match Ottawa’s intensity if they want to earn a shot at becoming the first team to win the Cup in back-toback years since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.
“We’ve just got to get a win,” Crosby said. “I know it’s going to be a tough one. Everything else surrounding it is not really our focus.”