National Post (National Edition)
Senators insist the job’s not done
After booking a ticket to the Eastern Conference final in the city that never sleeps, the Ottawa Senators spent Wednesday getting some muchneeded rest.
It’s only the third time the franchise has reached the NHL’s Final Four and, for the first time since 2007, the Senators have moved within one step of the Stanley Cup final. Though they were thrilled to finish off the New York Rangers with a 4-2 win Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, they feel the journey isn’t over.
“We didn’t go this far to not want anything more,” said captain Erik Karlsson. “We know what’s expected of us. It’s going to be even harder next series, whoever we get to play, and it’s going to take more out of us.
“We’re going to celebrate this — or enjoy this — for a little bit, but we’re far from done. We want to go as far as we possibly can, but we know we need to be a little bit better and we have to keep growing. We’re going to prepare to get back to work.”
Perhaps that’s why the celebration in the dressing room following the series clincher against the Rangers wasn’t over the top. The Senators know they’ve still got a lot work ahead of them if they’re going to hoist the Cup and that’s now become the sole focus of this group.
“We’ll enjoy the moment, but we’ve just got to look forward and move forward. The job’s not finished,” said goaltender Craig Anderson.
The Senators struggled down the stretch getting to the playoffs, but they’ve picked the most opportune time of the season to catch lightning in a bottle. They’ve had a highly successful playoff run to date, with the key being their ability to have different players step up at different times.
Though Karlsson has been the Sens’ best player, he has a strong supporting cast with the likes of Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris, Dion Phaneuf, Clarke MacArthur, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Derick Brassard and Anderson among those playing the role of hero at various stages of this post-season.
“Throughout the course of this series, we really paid the price,” said Karlsson. “We did the small things right and we stuck with it no matter what (the Rangers) threw at us and they made it really difficult for us to do what we wanted to do well, but we did it for long enough and that’s why we’re standing here.”
The fact the Senators are standing is no surprise to anyone in the organization, which carried a quiet confidence into the playoffs. GM Pierre Dorion added Alex Burrows, Viktor Stalberg and Tommy Wingels before the trade deadline because he felt good about this group’s chances.
The Senators have had to rely on their depth throughout these playoffs. The picture wasn’t looking good when they allowed the Rangers to erase a 2-0 series lead with back-to-back 4-1 victories in games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden.
That may have been the wake-up call the Senators needed, though.
During a break between games 4 and 5, the Senators went home to do some soul searching. Head coach Guy Boucher and his coaching staff looked at different ways to get the club back on track — including inserting tough guy Chris Neil into the lineup for Saturday’s Game 5 in Ottawa — and hit the reset button at just the right time.
“The games we played (in New York), we weren’t playing the way we wanted to,” said Karlsson.
Boucher went to Round 3 with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011 and knows the path doesn’t get any easier from here, no matter who the Senators face next.
“I’ve lived it before. I think there’s a lot of emotion in the first round, teams are mostly healthy, they’re excited and they’ve got a lot of energy,” said Boucher. “I think you start seeing in the middle of the second round that every game more guys are banged up, more guys are tired.
“There’s a mental, physical and emotional wear down. It’s nothing like the third round. If I remember correctly, it’s really tough.”
Boucher was quick to play the underdog card before facing the Rangers. He was asked if he’d do that again before taking on Washington or Pittsburgh.
“I don’t even think I need to answer that one,” said Boucher with a laugh. “As long as we’re dogs, we’re fighting in the ring. At least we’re there. Over or underdogs, let’s leave it at dogs. How’s that?”