FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-A wake up call might not be such a bad thing at this point. They weren’t great in Game 2 and a miraculous comeback saved them. There was no miracle on Tuesday night. The New York Rangers were a clearly desperate team and that desperation was way too much for Ottawa to handle. A slap in the face, as Guy Boucher called it. I was expecting the Rangers to bring their A-game in this one. What I wasn’t expecting was the Senators to match that with their worst effort of the playoffs.
-The nice thing about a game like that is it hangs on everyone. No one player is to blame for a loss like that. You could see it in the first five minutes that everyone was off. Obviously the pace the Rangers were playing with forced Ottawa into those mistakes but it just seemed like everyone- forwards, defenceman and goalie- were all a step behind. Bad passes breaking out of their zone, miscues in the offensive zone and uncharacteristically loose in the neutral zone. It was just a mess. The Rangers deserve full credit for that win but the Senators made it pretty easy on them. Ottawa’s strength this year has been their ability to bounce back. They’ll need to in Game 4.
-Like so many of his teammates, Craig Anderson misplayed a puck in that first period and on his gaffe, the puck ended up in the back of the net. Anderson’s puck handling is becoming a story in these playoffs and the miscues are obviously a concern. Some fans and media seem to be suggesting Anderson stop playing the puck altogether but that’s not a realistic solution. The Senators are trying to force dump ins and having Anderson come out to stop those pucks from rimming is a huge help for the defence. But the Grabner goal was something entirely different. That was just a bad read by Anderson in a situation where no goalie should be coming out of his net. Anderson has to keep playing the puck but he definitely needs to make better and quicker reads.
-By winning both those games at home, the Senators gave themselves a little bit of a wiggle room. Or as much wiggle room as you can have this time of year. While the Rangers responded well in Game 3, they’ll still be feeling the heat in Game 4 because you know they don’t want to go back to Ottawa facing elimination. If the Senators can find a way to get a split in these games at Madison Square Garden, they’re still in great shape in this series. Expecting a much better effort from everyone on Thursday.
-Injuries are a growing concern for the Senators. Both Zack Smith (upper body) and Bobby Ryan (lower body) left the game with injuries and there was no update on their status. With Clarke MacArthur already dealing with an injury and Mark Stone clearly playing through something, the forward group is in pretty rough shape. Although to be honest, at this time of year, most players are playing through an injury of some kind. Definitely expecting Tom Pyatt to draw in on Thursday but we’ll see if the Coaching staff has any other changes in mind.
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
Boxscore
Advanced Stats
Playoff Bracket
