Ex-Jackets give boost to Senators in playoffs
Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot laughed as he considered the circumstances that have reunited him with former Blue Jackets teammate Derick Brassard and brought them under the guidance of coach Guy Boucher.
For one weekend in the spring of 2010, there was a chance all three would work together in Columbus.
The Blue Jackets were in search of a coach, and Boucher was a hot prospect based on his trapping system and his success in junior hockey and with the Montreal Canadiens’ minor-league team. Boucher spurned an offer from the Jackets, instead accepting a job with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s funny you mention it, because it’s the first time I have put two and two together,” said Methot, who played six seasons in Columbus. “It’s pretty crazy how it
all works out.”
Fast forward to this spring and Boucher has the Senators in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2007. With the help of Brassard and Methot, the Senators have beaten Boston and the New York Rangers to earn a shot against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The series opens tonight in Pittsburgh.
Boucher guided the Lightning to the conference finals in his first season in Tampa. He has done the same with the Senators, who play a structured and disciplined system that often forces neutral-zone turnovers and leads to counterattacks.
“The guy prepares like nobody I have been around,” Methot said in a phone interview. “A lot of coaches put in the work, but in my experience I haven’t seen someone as good at putting in the work, coordinating it with video and presenting it to the players.”
Methot, a 31-yearold Ottawa native, is cherishing his deepest postseason run. The experience has been made more special thanks to a reunion with Brassard, 29, traded to Ottawa in the offseason from the Rangers.
When the Blue Jackets dealt the center to New York four years ago as part of the Marian Gaborik blockbuster, few could have envisioned his transformation into a big-game performer. Just five players have produced more postseason points since 2013 than Brassard, who has 21 goals and 32 assists in 71 games.
“He is such a passionate player and he thrives under pressure,” Methot said.
Methot is hardly a spare part in the Senators’ run. He has developed into a strong stay-at-home defenseman who partners with two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. Despite playing with hairline fractures in a heel, Karlsson arguably has been the best player in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He is an outstanding two-way defender who seems to never leave the ice, averaging nearly 29 minutes per game. Karlsson’s 13 points are the most among all playoff defensemen. Methot’s athleticism and skating ability allow him to cover for Karlsson when the Swede makes his dashes up the ice.
“I thank God every day for all the power-skating lessons my parents put me through,” Methot said. “I hate to say the guy doesn’t get his due because he has won two Norris Trophys, but you don’t get an appreciation for his game until you watch him on a nightly basis. He just controls games.”
Methot is excited for an opportunity to dethrone the Penguins, whom he calls a “powerhouse team.” He won’t allow an un-penalized slash from superstar Sidney Crosby on March 23 — the chop mangled Methot’s left pinky finger — to deter his focus on the bigger picture. Methot missed the rest of the regular season and the first game of the playoffs recovering from the injury.
Crosby called him a week after the incident, Methot said.
“I had all kind of mixed emotions when I was out and couldn’t play,” Methot said. “In truth, that was before the playoffs and I’m past it now. I can’t let that dictate my game and what I have to do out there. … Sidney is one of the best players in the world and I’m going to play him hard just like every other player on the ice.”
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