We are now just one day away from the start of the National Hockey League playoffs.
Better known as the longest day of the year. Actually maybe second longest because tomorrow is going to be a real struggle. It’s been a long damn time since the Ottawa Senators had home ice advantage in a playoff series and I have a feeling the Canadian Tire Centre is going to be rocking on Wednesday night.
There’s a special feeling around this year’s team.
And while some fans have been a little bit hesitant to buy in, all it takes is a playoff game in the Nation’s Capital to wake up this fan base. Of all the stadiums in the league, Ottawa’s may be the biggest difference in atmosphere between regular season and playoffs. Sens fans are generally pretty tame during the regular season but we find another level at playoff time.
And I can’t friggin’ wait.
The Ottawa Senators are on the ice for a practice this morning at 11:00 AM. Will be interesting to see how Guy Boucher lines them up for that one.
In the meantime, let’s take a closer look at this first round series against the Boston Bruins.
FORWARDS
The Boston Bruins have what may be the best forward line in the league in Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Backes. Marchand’s transition from rat to goal scoring rat has been pretty impressive. They have some decent secondary scoring too in the form of David Krejci and David Pastrnak. While the Bruins have the best line in the series, Ottawa has a more well-rounded group. If the newly-formed Hoffman-Pageau-Stone line can match the Bergeron trio, the Senators should be in good shape. Guys like Kyle Turris, Derick Brassard and Alex Burrows all have a reputation for elevating their game this time of year. I don’t see an obvious edge here.
ADVANTAGE: EVEN
DEFENCE
If both teams had their full line up, this category would be pretty even too. Torey Krug is a dynamic defenceman and is the straw that stirs the drink for the Bruins offence. He’s out for Game 1 and possibly beyond that. Erik Karlsson is the best defenceman in the game and he’s in for Game 1. This is a huge advantage for the Senators right off the hop. Zdeno Chara is still very mean but not very fast. Same goes for Dion Phaneuf, I suppose. Brandon Carlo may be out for the Bruins and Marc Methot may be out for the Senators. Liles, McQuaid and the Millers (Colin and Kevan) are pretty meh. Bruins fans would likely say the same about Ceci, Borowiecki, Claesson and Wideman. Goals against were pretty similar during the regular season. Another category that’s pretty even except the Senators have the best defenceman on the planet.
ADVANTAGE: OTTAWA
SPECIAL TEAMS
On paper, this is clearly an advantage for the Bruins. They have a top ten power play and the best penalty kill in the league. Meanwhile the Senators power play has had fans pulling their hair out for months now and the penalty kill has been just as bad. The Senators still have game-breaking talent on the man advantage and if they can enter the zone cleanly, they are usually able to generate decent chances. The penalty kill was decent earlier in the year but the wheels fell off a little bit in the back half of the season. The one thing worth noting about that Bruins power play is that Torey Krug was by far their most important player on the man advantage. He had 25 points on the power play and nobody else on that Bruins blueline was even close. Boston’s advantage is clear here but missing Krug is going to hurt.
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
GOALTENDING
I’ve read a few different articles giving the Bruins the edge here and honestly, I don’t see it. Craig Anderson had the better regular season and heads into the playoffs at the top of his game, earning first star of the week honours during the final week of the season. Tuuka Rask has a ton of playoff experience and has a tendency to seem unbeatable in the post season (.930 save percentage!) but he wasn’t exactly lights out during the regular season. Both goalies have shown an ability to take their game to another level at playoff time though. Anderson had the better regular season while Rask has a better playoff track record in terms of wins but it might surprise you to learn that Anderson’s career playoff save percentage is better than Rask’s at .933.
ADVANTAGE: EVEN
COACHING
Another category that’s pretty difficult to give a clear edge. Bruce Cassidy has done a terrific job with the Bruins as their interim Head Coach, leading the team to an 18-8-1 record down the stretch and salvaging a season that was slipping away under Claude Julien. Guy Boucher completely turned around the fortunes of this Ottawa team in one season and has the group believing in a system and maybe more importantly, believing in themselves. Cassidy has coached 6 playoff games in his career while Boucher has 18 games under his belt, including an appearance in the Conference Finals. Ottawa also has a Stanley Cup winner behind the bench in Marc Crawford. Recognizing that Coaching is something difficult to quantify, I give the Senators a slight edge here. More experience and the benefit of home ice advantage and last change.
ADVANTAGE: OTTAWA
INTANGIBLES
You want to talk about things that can’t be measured? Let’s dig into the ol’ intangibles a little bit. The Bruins have a ton of experience and multiple Stanley Cup winners in their locker room. For the first time in a while though, the Senators have plenty of guys that have been through the playoff grind. The Senators have home ice advantage and I think that could be huge in this series, and maybe even a difference maker. There is an undeniable magic to this Ottawa team. A soul, if you will. Craig Anderson’s perseverance during difficult times, Clarke MacArthur’s unlikely return, steady adversity throughout the year. The players in that room legitimately care about each other and believe this team is capable of big things and that’s huge this time of year. Oh and Sparta Cat has a pretty clear edge over Blades or whatever the hell his name is. The Senators swept the season series against the Bruins and that has to give them a little extra confidence heading into the best of seven. I will be making a sizeable wager on the Bruins to win the series too so the #SensChirpCurse is in effect. Plus, home ice advantage.
ADVANTAGE: OTTAWA
PREDICTION
Settle in for an uncomfortably long series, Sens fans. I really don’t see an obvious edge for either of these teams. The Bruins have one of the best forward lines in the league and the Senators have the best defenceman on the planet. Both teams have goalies capable of taking their game to another level this time of year and both teams have Coaches that have exceeded expectations in their first year behind the bench. If the Senators can keep the special teams battle close (a big if) and score first more often than not, I think they can pull this off. Depth scoring and offence from the back end make the difference for Ottawa in a long series with multiple overtime games. The Ottawa Senators are back in the playoffs and I have a feeling this could be a series for the ages.
PREDICTION: OTTAWA SENATORS IN 7 GAMES
Loading …Tried this yesterday but the NHL.com website was a bit of a mess. We’ll give it another shot. I have set up a SensChirp League on the NHL.com Bracket Challenge and invite you all to join! Working on tracking down a prize for the winner too. Use your website handle so we know who’s who!
Link- https://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/leagues/the-senschirp-league
Password- senschirp
