Sens pull off 2-1 victory
Those who didn’t show up have no idea what they missed.
The Ottawa Senators opened up Round 2 of the NHL playoffs Thursday night with hundreds of empty seats at the Canadian Tire Centre at the 18,572-seat building, but those who were on hand didn’t leave with an empty feeling as the club pulled off an dramatic 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.
The attendance wasn’t announced which is highly unusual but by the end those who were there were thrilled with the finish.
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 for Ottawa while Craig Anderson was solid in the net. Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant but couldn’t do it by himself as only Ryan McDonagh scored for New York.
Karlsson’s shot from below the goal-line bounced off Derek Stepan by Lundqvist to give the Senators the win and secure a 1-0 series lead. Yes, the score was close, but the Senators did a solid job controlling the play against the Rangers and had it not been for Lundqvist then this one may not have even been close.
After knocking off the Boston Bruins in Round 1, the Senators are well aware they’ve got their hands full with the Rangers. They’re a better team and they’re healthy.
“The depth they’ve got, they’ve got a ton of depth, a ton of speed up front, a solid defensive group and the goaltender to go with it,” winger Clarke MacArthur said before the game. “They’ve got a really solid team over there and we’re going to have to have our best game to have a chance.”
Just when everybody was wondering if the Senators were ever going to beat Lundqvist, Dzingel’s first of the playofs 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 of the game at Lundqvist.
Until then, he was looking invincible when Viktor Stalberg was sent on a breakaway and Lundqvist made a huge pad stop with three minutes to go in the second. Only moments earlier, with the Rangers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Anderson stuck out his pad to make a stop on Michael Grabner when he was alone in front.
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 for off for tripping, McDonagh fired a shot from the point that Anderson never appeard to see as it beat him inside the post at 7:10.
That came on New York’s third power play of this game.
After 20 minutes, you got the feeling it’s going to be difficult for either team to score during this series. The first period ended in a scoreless tie with Lundqvist and Anderson both turning aside good chances. The Senators had three chances with the power play and couldn’t capitalize on any of them.
If you’re wondering how good Lundqvist performed, the shots were 21-12 in favour of the Senators and a lot of those were big saves. He made big on Zack Smith in late while Anderson made his best stop on Ryan McDonagh when he split the club’s defence and went in alone.
The 21 shots in one period was a franchise playoff record by 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 and his best came when he robbed Mark Stone on the doorstep on the first man advantage.
Only moments earlier, Lundqvist had Mike Hoffman shaking his head while Anderson got a little help from his friends when Grabner hit the post.
The Senators understand winning this series won’t be an easy task.
“They play the game fast and they play the game fun so it’s going to be a good challenge,” said Karlsson before the game. “They should be the favourite going into this series. We’re going to take care of our stuff and the things we need to do well to have a chance to win this series.
“If we do all those things right, we’ll definitely have a chance.”
Ottawa certainly got off to the kind of start it wanted and the club will host Game 2 Saturday at 3 p.m. with the chance to move into the driver’s seat before the series moves to Madison Square Garden Tuesday.