That’s certainly the ticket
EAST SEMIS: Karlsson nets Game 1 winner as Ottawa plays to less than full house
OTTAWA — 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. But those among the 16,744 who were on hand didn’t leave with an empty feeling as the Senators pulled off a dramatic 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. The attendance was roughly 1,800 shy of a sellout.
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 with a goal for Ottawa, while Craig Anderson was solid in 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 past Lundqvist to give the Senators the win and secure a 1-0 series lead. One more time in the playoffs, the score was tight, 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.
“They’ve got a ton of depth, a ton of speed up front, a solid defensive group and the goaltender to go with it,” Senators 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 career NHL playoff goal with 1:21 left in the second tied it at 1-1. That goal came on Ottawa’s fourth power play of the night and it was the Senators’ 33rd shot of the game at Lundqvist.
Until then, the Rangers goaltender was looking almost invincible. Viktor Stalberg was sent in 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 the Blueshirts finally scored. With Cody Ceci for off for tripping, McDonagh fired a shot from the point that Anderson never appeared to see as it beat him inside the post at the 7:10 mark of the second.
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 opportunities 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 after the first and a lot of those were big saves. He made a huge stop on Zack Smith, while Anderson made his best save on McDonagh after 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 host Game 2 Saturday at 3 p.m. with the chance to move into the driver’s seat before the series moves to New York Tuesday.