Sens’ Ryan knows the time is now to break out of slump
OTTAWA — As head coach Dave Cameron says, the Senators don’t have a player he’d describe as a “pure goal scorer.”
There is no Steven Stamkos, no Alex Ovechkin in the lineup.
There is, however, a winger named Bobby Ryan, a four-time 30-goal scorer with the Anaheim Ducks. Since coming over in a trade in the summer of 2012, the 28-year-old Ryan is the closest thing Ottawa has to a pure goal scorer.
Ryan’s frustration with failing to score a point in a quarterfinal series the Senators trail 3-0 to the Montreal Canadiens, combined with entering the playoffs on a 12-game goal scoring drought, is palpable. His body language and tone are dripping with anguish.
“Mentally exhausting is a good way to put it,” Ryan says of his experience in this series. “I think I’ve watched every game four or five times, ad nauseam, looking for opportunities and holes in their game, and where I can generate more. Dave and Walmer (Senators goaltending coach Rick Wamsley) have been great for me. We all recognize it’s right there, they’re not dropping. There’s not a lot of time left for it to turn, so you hope it starts (Wednesday) and continues.”
Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre will be the scene of Game 4 today, as the Senators look to come back from a 3-0 series deficit for the first time in franchise history. A goal from Ryan would give this team a huge lift, not to mention what it would do for the psyche of No. 6.
He thought he had one in Game 3, so close to scoring he started to raise his stick in celebration as the puck veered over the net.
“I don’t know if he (Habs goaltender Carey Price) got a piece of it or what,” said Ryan, admitting that when a player is in a slump as deep as his, the close calls are especially “disheartening.”
Ryan did have a couple of shots on Price in Game 3, a 2-1 loss. And his line, with centre Mika Zibanejad and winger Milan Michalek, had their best game of the series.
“I think we did a better job in that triangle offence,” Ryan says. “There were opportunities. I didn’t know I had 10 feet around me in front of the net on one, Milo had a breakaway. We were there.
Despite his late-season slump, Ryan was a big part of Ottawa’s storybook drive to a playoff position. He played hurt, through a broken finger, and logged important minutes. It could be that he is exhausted from all the heavy lifting, although Ryan makes no excuses.
Ryan’s luck is bound to change, though as he says while facing elimination, the time is now.
It may also be unfair to expect an 18-goal scorer during the regular season to lead the charge. The Senators had five 20-goal scorers and strangely, Ryan and Clarke MacArthur (who played just 62 games) were not among them. This is a team that scores by committee, much like the Canadiens once you get past star forward Max Pacioretty.
One of the differences in the series has been the production of Montreal’s fourth line of Brandon Prust, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn, the Game 1 heroes at the Bell Centre. Ottawa will look for a spark from its third and fourth lines Wednesday.
“Stick with it,” Ryan describes the message to the Senators’ bottom six forwards, a group which got a makeover when Zack Smith was announced as the fourthline centre for Game 4, replacing David Legwand. “We can’t ask them to do anything else. We’ve had role players make an impact and contributions down the stretch. It got us to where we are.”