Everything that could go wrong for the Senators did in Game 4.
Despite being up 2-1 at the end of twenty minutes, you could tell the Senators were playing with fire. If not for the play of Craig Anderson, this game could have been ugly right off the bat. The good news is, they ain't dead yet.
Every game the Sens play from here on out could appropriately be labelled the biggest game of their season.
The Ottawa Senators look to build off an electrifying win on Sunday night as they play Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After a two day break, the Senators will be looking to use a raucous crowd at Scotiabank Place to draw even before heading back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Friday night.
For the second straight game, the Ottawa Senators will play their biggest game of the season as they look to draw even in their series with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Some interesting speculation ahead of this game as rumours from Twitter suggest that there is a chance Mark Stone could draw into the Ottawa line up for the pivotal Game 4. An interesting decision if true. We'll know more when the Senators take their morning skate at 10:15 AM. Game day post coming in a little bit.
Something I learned at a young age, is that if you approach playoffs with the "Cup or bust" mentality, you'll completely miss the real beauty of this magical time of year.
Playoffs are all about those "moments". Those where were you when, kind of moments. The ones that stick with you for days, weeks, even years to come. And as Ottawa Senators fans, we have been pretty spoiled the last couple of seasons.
WRITTEN BY SENSCHIRP READER- Glenn
So I couldn't watch the game, which was a drag. And the TVs in the casino where I work were only showing the Spurs-Grizzlies game.
My wife Kayla was watching at home, and I'd check in on my breaks. I could see the ESPN ticker every now and then, but only when it was time to move the cards into the shuffler. Everytime I caught a view of the score, it was 1-0 Pittsburgh. As the time went on, I stopped looking becasue I didn't want to see that it was a final.
(UPDATE 10:23 AM)- Appropriate timing I would say. This morning, the NHL announced that Ottawa Senators Captain Daniel Alfredsson has been nominated for the Mark Messier Leadership Award. Pretty special year for Alfie as he has helped lead a team that looked down and out after a series of injuries, to the 2nd round of the playoffs. A well deserved honour for the best Captain in the game. Jonathan Toews and Dustin Brown are the other nominees.
After dropping the first two games of the series in Pittsburgh, the Ottawa Senators return to Scotiabank Place for the biggest game of their season.
In Game 1 they looked overwhelmed, in Game 2 they showed they can play with this Pittsburgh team. Now they hope the lift of playing in front of their home town crowd will be enough to get them back in their Eastern Conference Semifinal match up.
(UPDATE 2:21 PM)- Paul MacLean has confirmed what has been speculated the last couple days- Jason Spezza is ready to return to the Ottawa Senators line up. The Sens number one centre has been out of the line up since January 27. A huge boost for this team as they return to Scotiabank Place for Game 3.
In Game 1, the Ottawa Senators may have been guilty of giving their opponents a little bit too much respect. That has to change tonight.
The Senators play Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semi-final at the Consol Energy Center and will be looking to earn a much needed split in the Steel City. With a win tonight the Sens can take back home ice advantage before returning to Scotiabank Place this weekend. Game 3 goes on Sunday night in Ottawa.
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