Senators take their cue from MacArthur

Resiliency of veteran winger provides inspiration in Game 6 victory over Pens

Clarke MacArthur had his game face on well before the puck dropped Tuesday.

Now 32, recognizing as well as anyone that an extended playoff run — and just playing professional hockey for that matter — is a gift from the hockey gods, the Ottawa Senators winger offered a message he clearly wanted his teammates to hear.

“It doesn’t matter how you feel,” he said, talking about summer being potentially only three periods away. “You’ve got to do what’s right for the team — blocking shots, making little plays, (whatever) will give us our best chance.”

Relatively quiet for two periods — MacArthur saw only 13 shifts and played only 9:44 in the opening 40 minutes — he tried to make his mark by leaving a bruise or two. He had three hits and a testy mid-ice exchange with Matt Cullen.

Come the third period, though, MacArthur made one of those pivotal little plays himself.

From inside his own blue line and with a hit coming from Pittsburgh Penguins winger Scott Wilson, MacArthur waited a split second before passing to Freddie Claesson.

Claesson skated deep into the Penguins zone, dropped the puck to Mike Hoffman and drove to the net to create the screen. Hoffman then blasted a slapshot off the post behind Penguins goaltender Matt Murray for the game-winning goal in Ottawa’s 2-1 victory.

It was far from the prettiest game, and without the work of Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, the Senators would have been dead and buried by the midpoint of the second period, with the golf clubs out Wednesday.

But how often have the Senators won pretty?

As a veteran, MacArthur realized the Senators’ best chance was to stay away from the wide open game that got them in so much trouble in Sunday’s 7-0 Game 5 defeat.

As MacArthur cautioned, the Senators didn’t lose their focus Tuesday despite falling behind 1-0 on Evgeni Malkin’s gameopening goal for the Pens.

“We’ve got to trust in what we’re doing. It got us to the Eastern Conference final,” MacArthur said. “If we don’t trust it now, there’s not a whole lot of hope for us.”

In the media scrum beside him, Kyle Turris was wearing an ear to ear grin.

After coming to the rink day after day for nine months, Turris could think of nothing else but coming back for at least one more day.

“We just don’t want it to end,” he said.

MacArthur was in similar spirits as he spoke.

Why would he ever want his dream comeback to the game — a rallying cry for his teammates in the post-season — to be over?

Most Senators fans know the story well enough. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the NHL after doctors refused to clear him to return from postconcussion syndrome in January. Yet, instead of spending the summer seriously pondering retirement, he was suddenly cleared to play with four games remaining in the regular season.

In the opening round, he had the magic stick against Boston, scoring his first goal in two years, followed by the series-clinching overtime goal.

It was the first time in his career he had made it to the second round, and after defeating the New York Rangers, the first time he had made it through to the third.

Now, he and his teammates are one win away from a fourth round, a shot at taking on the Nashville Predators to win it all.

MacArthur may never get another shot at going this deep in the playoffs again. He has made the most of it, with three goals and six assists in 18 games.

He talked about “the opportunity” in front of him and his team before the game Tuesday, trying to block out any negative thoughts. He turned a blind eye to Sunday’s embarrassing defeat.

“I didn’t watch any of that,” he said. “There’s no point.”

MacArthur was, however, spellbound by another magical story, watching Wednesday as Nashville knocked off the Anaheim Ducks.

If the Senators have been the little train that could in the East, the Predators have been the ultimate underdog story in the West. It served as motivation.

“How exciting is that for them? All you want is a chance and they got theirs. We have to work for ours. You never know what can happen year to year. The teams are so close now. It just shows that one to eight (seeds), it doesn’t matter. It’s about who wants it more.”

The Senators’ victory Tuesday was about will over skill, with a few little plays — and the big play of Anderson — giving the Senators a Game 7 shot Thursday.

“If we get this game,” MacArthur said before the puck dropped Tuesday, “it gets really exciting for Game 7.”

Yes, it does.