FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-That had to be Ottawa’s most complete effort of these playoffs. A shining moment for The System. And as far as road games go, that was damn near perfect. The Senators dictated the pace of the game all night and dragged the high-flying Penguins into the gutter for 60+ minutes. There’s nothing better than that uncomfortable silence we heard from the Pittsburgh crowd for most of the night. It was the sound of 20,000 people finding out this series was going to be a hell of a lot tougher than they expected.
-The Bobby Ryan Redemption Tour rolls on. In New York, he was diving in front of shots and in Pittsburgh, he was clearly Ottawa’s best forward. His behind the back pass led to the first goal and his speed and hands are the reason the Senators have now stolen home ice away from the Penguins. Ryan has been through so much both on and off the ice this season and he was the target of almost constant criticism from a segment of this fan base. It has been a treat watching him make all those people look so silly with an incredible playoff run.
-For the sixth time in these playoffs, the Senators ended up on the right end of an overtime decision. Of their nine wins in this post-season, six have come in extra time. Pretty incredible. Guy Boucher clearly wanted this team to be comfortable playing close games during the regular season and it’s really paying off in these playoffs. They’ve done such an incredible job sticking with their game plan when the pressure is on and that’s a huge reason for their success in extra time.
-Coming into this series, there was a lot of talk about that lethal Pittsburgh Penguins power play but it was the Senators penalty kill that got the upper hand in Game 1. They killed off all five Penguins power plays including a lengthy 5 on 3 in the first period. Pittsburgh had their chances obviously but Ottawa’s effort when down a man was a huge part of this win. They were winning most of the battle for loose pucks, especially against the Penguins stars. Great start for the PK but a few of those penalties were avoidable. Something for Ottawa to work on in Game 2.
-While he certainly wasn’t peppered with shots, this was a real solid effort from Craig Anderson. And if not that perfect tip by Evgeni Malkin, this was a Game 1 shutout for Andy. He was in control all night and seemed to be as locked in as he was for Game 6 against the Rangers. He was doing a great job finding pucks through traffic and he really didn’t give up much in the way of rebounds. Coming into this series, we all knew Anderson was going to have to good if the Senators had a chance. He was very good last night.
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
Boxscore
Advanced Stats
Playoff Bracket
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