KARLSSON MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Rangers’ Lundqvist looked unbeatable, but Sens’ captain fires the game-winner home
Those who didn’t show up have no idea what they missed.
The Senators opened up Round 2 of the NHL playoffs on Thursday with thousands of empty seats at the 18,572-seat Canadian Tire Centre. But the 16,744 who were on hand didn’t leave disappointed as the club pulled off a dramatic 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
Captain Erik Karlsson came through in the crunch as he scored his first of the playoffs to secure the win with 4:11 left in the third.
Ryan Dzingel also chipped in a goal for Ottawa, while Craig Anderson was solid in net. Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant, but couldn’t do it by himself as only defenceman Ryan McDonagh scored for New York.
Karlsson’s shot from below the goal-line bounced off Derek Stepan and past Lundqvist to give the Senators the win and secure a 1-0 series lead. Lundqvist made 41 stops, so Karlsson’s first gamewinning playoff goal of his career was timely.
“I just wanted to get the puck in there and hope for a good bounce. I got a great bounce and it’s just nice to get,” Karlsson said. “I think with the amount of pucks we put at the net, we deserved one of those.
“We knew this was going to be a battle. I think we can do a better job taking away his vision and getting pucks in there. I think we did a good job getting pucks to the net, but when secondary opportunities come along, we’ve got to be a little bit hungrier and we’ve got to put a few more bodies in front.”
Ottawa head coach Guy Boucher, who was playing up the underdog card in a big way before the series started, said the Senators didn’t want to be embarrassed. That may have been part of the reason why they were so dominant for the full 60 minutes.
“Tonight, the players didn’t want to get swept in four,” Boucher said.
“All we could hear was how much they were going to crush us, it’s a scary team, they’ve got four lines, their goaltender is outstanding, and there was a lot of fear tonight that helped us, and we were able to do it.
“We expect them to bounce back with a game that’s even better, so we know how tough it’s going to be.”
Just when everybody was wondering if the Senators were ever going to beat Lundqvist, Dzingel’s first career NHL playoff goal with 1:21 left in the second tied it up 1-1 going into the third period. That goal came on Ottawa’s fourth power play of the night and it was the club’s 33rd shot on Lundqvist.
“Alex Burrows told me to enjoy it. I’ve been staying positive and, at the end of the day, we’re in the playoffs, we’re in the second round and this is something you dream of as a kid. No matter what happens, I’m just having fun and I’m grateful for the opportunity,” Dzingel, 25, said with a wide smile.
Though the Rangers power play has been the NHL’s worst in the playoffs, the Senators gave them enough chances that New York finally scored.
With Cody Ceci off for tripping, McDonagh fired a shot from the point that Anderson might never have seen, and it beat him inside the post at 7:10. That came on New York’s third power play of the game.
If you’re wondering how good Lundqvist performed in the first, the shots were 21-12 in favour of the Senators — and a lot of those saves were big. He made a big one on Zack Smith late, while Anderson made his best stop on McDonagh when he split the club’s defence and went in alone.
The 21 shots in one period was a playoff franchise record for the Senators.
The Senators had two golden opportunities with back-to-back power plays in the first 10 minutes and couldn’t take advantage of either. Make no mistake, they had no shortage of opportunities, but Lundqvist was there to make the glove save.
His best came when he robbed Mark Stone on the doorstep on the first man advantage.
“We’re playing the New York Rangers here. There’s no way we’re going to let ourselves get too high here — it’s only Game 1,” defenceman Marc Methot said.
“We still have a long way to go. You’ve put yourself in a good position when you win that first game, so we’ll take it.”
Ottawa got off to the kind of start it wanted and the club will host the Rangers in Game 2 on Saturday, with the chance to get into the driver’s seat before the series moves to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.