Best of three.
A spot in the Stanley Cup Final on the line.
Never has the label been more appropriate. This is an opportunity more than a decade in the making. This is it.
THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR.
The Senators had an opportunity to push the Penguins to the brink on Friday night in Ottawa but just couldn’t get the job done. A desperate Pittsburgh team stormed out to a 3-0 lead and hung on the rest of the way.
While the Senators did some good things after the lead stretched to three, their performance before then was nowhere near good enough. And they know it.
They’ll need to be much better in just about every aspect of the game as the series shifts back to Pittsburgh. The power play, especially.
Guy Boucher met with the media yesterday and seemed to suggest there’s a chance both Alex Burrows and Mark Borowiecki could be available for this one. Burrows is the more likely to return of the two though. If he’s back, one of Tommy Wingels or Ryan Dzingel would come out.
Line up will remain a bit of a mystery until closer to game time. We’ll assume same line combinations for now but expect these to change a little bit.
Stalberg-Turris-Hoffman
MacArthur-Brassard-Ryan
Smith-Pageau-Stone
Dzingel-Wingels-Pyatt
Methot-Karlsson
Phaneuf-Ceci
Claesson-Wideman
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 3:00 PM.
The magnitude of this game cannot be over-stated. It’s an opportunity that would have seemed so far-fetched at the start of the season but one that this team has earned.
Just two wins away from the Stanley Cup Final. Winning a pivotal Game 5 in Pittsburgh would be a huge step in the right direction.
GO SENS GO!!!!!
