Two months ago, a day like today would have seemed pretty far-fetched.
14 degrees and the sun is shining. But more so than the weather, the Ottawa Senators are about to play a home playoff game. If this is your first, get ready for something special. If you’ve been through them before, you’ve probably been thinking about it since the moment the Sens clinched their spot in the dance.
There’s nothing quite like a playoff game in Ottawa.
As it has been for the Senators on many nights in the last couple months, the situation is pretty clear tonight. Win a game or they are in serious trouble. That kind of pressure can be tough on a team but we know what Ottawa is capable of in that situation. They’ve played some of their best hockey with their backs against the wall. No reason to think tonight will be any different.
I get a kick out of the experts that always pull out the “teams down 2-0” record or the “the Senators have never won a series when down 2-0”. As if that shit matters. We’ve seen pretty clearly that “usually” doesn’t really apply to this team. And it doesn’t matter what their record is down 2-0. They just need to win one game. They don’t need to win the series tonight.
Win tonight and the Canadiens start to feel the heat. Win tonight and this city comes alive. Win tonight and we got a series.
After losing the first two games of the series and clearly not playing their best in either game, Head Coach Dave Cameron has decided to juggle his line up a little bit. Alex Chiasson is a healthy scratch to make room for Chris Neil. Chiasson played less than six minutes last game and has been pretty ineffective in the first two games of the series. You know Neil will be fired up and ready to make an impact even in limited ice time. Mike Hoffman starts on that fourth line but you know he’ll move up the line up if the offence is struggling.
Here’s how the Senators will line up for this one.
MacArthur-Turris-Stone
Michalek-Zibanejad-Ryan
Condra-Pageau-Lazar
Hoffman-Legwand-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Ceci
Borowiecki-Gryba
In what is certainly the boldest decision of his Coaching career, Dave Cameron has decided to go with Craig Anderson in Game 3. Going back to Hammond would have been the easy move. Switching goalies at this point in the series takes some serious guts. We’ll see how it turns out. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM.
If you’re going to the game, make some f’n noise. Playoffs are one of those rare times during professional sports when a loud crowd really can make a difference. Our team is a in a bit of a hole and need us to help lift them out of it.
GO SENS GO!
