FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Well that one stings. Despite having a ton of jump in the first period and playing a damn near perfect second, the Ottawa Senators find themselves down in this series. There will be plenty of hand-wringing over the way the Senators played that third period, and rightfully so, but there was a lot to like about the way Ottawa’s game through the first two periods. They came in as an underdog in this series but they dictated the pace of the game through forty. The whole team was guilty of letting their collective foot off the gas down the stretch.
-I don’t see many people talking about the performance of Tuukka Rask but he was the difference in this one. During a second period when the Senators controlled the play, he made a couple big stops that kept the game within striking distance for the Bruins. Even in the first, when the Bruins maybe held a slight edge in possession, the Senators had a handful of great scoring chances that they just couldn’t capitalize on. This was a talking point among the players after the game too. Plenty of chances but just couldn’t finish.
-Guy Boucher did a lot of line juggling leading up to puck drop last night and it continued once the game started. For the first time in his tenure as Coach, the Senators have a full compliment of players and you can tell Boucher is still getting used to that idea. He had his forward lines in a blender most of the night and itreached a point where you never really knew which trio was going to come over the boards. The Hoffman-Pageau-Pyatt line was one of the few consistent combinations and they spent a good portion of the night in their own end of the rink. Boucher may want to consider juggling that one too.
-On a positive note, that was as good as Bobby Ryan has looked in a long time. There have been signs of life in his game for the past month or so and even though the goals and points may not have been there, you could tell he was starting to get it together. That goal he scored in the second period has to be one of the top moments in his career as a Senators. Bet that “Bobby!” chant had to feel pretty good for him too.
-The good news for the Senators is they get an extra day off between games. Despite getting plenty of rest down the stretch, there are still a few key players playing through injuries right now and it showed last night. Marc Methot took the pre-game skate but didn’t play but I expect him to play on Saturday. Based on what we’ve seen all year, Freddy Claesson is likely the guy that comes out but I hope Boucher considered leaving him in and sitting Borowiecki for a game. Claesson looked pretty solid in his 18:39 of ice time. Ryan Dzingel should draw in too.
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
Boxscore
Advanced Stats
Playoff Bracket
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