Sens know series is far from over Canucks drop in lottery, will pick fifth
BRUCE GARRIOCH
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
NEW YORK — The Ottawa Senators were all business as they headed to the Big Apple Sunday afternoon.
The may be up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinal against the New York Rangers after a thrilling 6-5 double-overtime victory at the Canadian Tire Centre Saturday, but the Senators know they haven’t won anything yet and there’s a lot of work left to do if they’re going to win this series with Game 3 set for Tuesday night.
The Senators didn’t go on the ice Sunday, instead, they met at the MacDonald-Cartier Airport and boarded their Air Canada charter. It was a day to rest, relax and recover before they hit the ice Monday morning for practice at Madison Square Garden.
“On my God, we have everything to do,” coach Guy Boucher told reporters Sunday before leaving Ottawa. “It’s not like (their) last series where they won the two games on the road (against Montreal) and they’re coming home. We won at home, games we have to win at home, and now we’re going to play in their barn.
“We enjoy playing there, I think we did well there, but at the same time we know the kind of urgency they’re going to bring to the next game. I know they talked about reloading because they’ve got two days off and figuring out what they have to do beat us and I think we have to do the same. We’ve got to back to the drawing board and make sure we’re not surprised by anything they’re going throw at us.”
Yes, the Senators had timely goals Saturday to come back from a twogoal deficit in the final four minutes — especially with the four-goal effort from centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau — but, the game was far from textbook. The club went 0-for-4 on the power play, gave up two shorthanded goals and allowed 48 shots on Craig Anderson.
The Senators will never be perfect but they can be improved and that’s why they’re buoyed being up 2-0 in this series because they likely haven’t played their best game yet and they’re sitting in a good position. Mistakes are going to happen in hockey. However, Boucher doesn’t like the kind of chances they’re giving up.
Ottawa has had success this year because the team has played with structure and Boucher felt the club did a better job once it went to the extra period cutting down on the scoring chances on Anderson.
“Our overtime was really good. I thought we really looked like ourselves and I thought we cleaned up a few things that we don’t want to see,” Boucher said.
After Game 1 Thursday, Boucher felt the Senators would need to record 40 shots per-game on Henrik Lundqvist if they were going to have success. That theory went out the window in Game 2 when Ottawa scored six goals on 28 shots which should bode well for their confidence going into these next two games on the road.
“We’re going into their building and we know that they’re going to come (out hard),” said alternate captain Dion Phaneuf. “(Saturday) we got lucky in that we were able to find a way but we can’t spot them those leads because when you’re chasing a game it’s going to eventually catch up to you.
“But we’re really happy with finding a way but we know we have to be better.”
The Senators have a great opportunity in the next two games. Not only can they push the Rangers to the brink of elimination with a victory in Game 3, the Senators have never swept a playoff series in their team history. Make no mistake, Ottawa has plenty of respect for the Rangers and Ottawa players this is far from being over.
The Rangers served notice in the second Saturday that they’re a tough customers. They controlled much of the play, made life difficult for the Senators and didn’t give them much. The key for the Senators was their ability to respond and that’s something they’ve been able to do all season.
Getting the two wins at home was a huge step for the Senators.
“We wanted to cement home ice and we’re fortunate to have home ice in the second round,” said winger Mark Stone. “We weren’t at our best (Saturday), we got a big penalty kill with six minutes left in the game and then (Pageau) made two big plays to get us to 5-5.
“At this time of year, you have to find ways to win. No game in the playoffs is easy to win. For us, I think that last four minutes (of Game 1) we kept it quite simple. You look at the goals, none of them were pretty, perfect plays.”
The Senators have a perfect record in this series and if they can keep it up they have the chance to end it quickly.
MIKE ZEISBERGER
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
TORONTO — On the outside, a gracious Trevor Linden wore the sincerest of grins as he extended his hand in congratulations to Ray Shero, whose New Jersey Devils had just won the NHL draft lottery on Saturday night.
On the inside, however, you had to figure the result of the league’s annual ping-pong ball sweepstakes was eating him up inside.
A year ago, the Vancouver team president came into the lottery with the third-best odds to snap up the No. 1 pick only to see his Canucks drop two spots to fifth.
This time around, the Canucks, with the second-best odds only behind the Colorado Avalanche, looked like a sure bet to at least pick in the Top-3. Instead, they plummeted three slots and will select No. 5 again for a second consecutive year, barring a trade of the pick.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of movement every year with this lottery where a lot of teams are going to be shuffling around,” Linden said. “It shows you how fortunate (the Maple Leafs) were to win it last year.”
Indeed, finishing dead last in the final NHL standings guarantees a team very little when it comes to the opportunity to select No. 1. Only once in seven drafts — including the upcoming one this June in Chicago — has the league’s basement dweller earned the right to pick first overall, that coming last year when the Maple Leafs were given the chance to selected potential franchise player Auston Matthews.
“We had a better chance to move down than up, and that’s what happened,” Linden said, adding that he’s enthused about the youth movement the Canucks are in the midst of entering a new era under recently hired coach Travis Green.
“We’re excited about moving forward with our young players,” Linden added. “Travis works well with young players and his program is predicated on development and accountability.”
Saturday’s events were just the latest in a line of draft-related bad luck the Canucks have suffered
Top-5 picks
1. New Jersey Devils 2. Philadelphia Flyers 3. Dallas Stars 4. Colorado Avalanche 5. Vancouver Canucks through dating back to the team’s inaugural season of 1970.
At that time, a spin of a roulettelike wheel determined who would pick first between the Canucks and Buffalo Sabres, two incoming expansion franchises.
The Canucks thought they had won the top pick and were set to select future Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault. But the Sabres Punch Imlach pointed out it the wheel had actually stopped in the Sabres favour, leaving Buffalo with Perreault and the Canucks taking Dale Tallon with the No. 2 pick.
The only other Canadian-based lottery team this time around was the Winnipeg Jets, who dropped down one spot from 12th to 13th.
Meanwhile Shero and the Devils are feeling much more fortunate than Canucks fans are today. Indeed, the Devils general manager and his players figured Christmas had came early when NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly held up the card with the Devils logo on the front when announcing who had won the right to pick first overall.
Tweeted Devils star forward Taylor Hall at “Officially adding “NHL lottery ball specialist” to my hockey resume.”
“I really didn’t expect this,” Shero said. “We haven’t even discussed this. Our scouting meetings are coming up so this should spice things up.
“I’m just happy for our fans. They’ve been through some down times recently and this gives the entire organization something to look forward to.”
The Devils came into the lottery with an 8.5 per cent chance of moving up to pick first.
The biggest movers were the Philadelphia Flyers, who went from No. 13 to No. 2. The Dallas Stars will pick third while the expansion Vegas Golden Knights dropped from No. 3 to No. 6.