After knocking off the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference in just five games, the Ottawa Senators now get a shot at the top dog.
The Senators play Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semi-final series tonight against the powerhouse Pittsburgh Penguins. And while most of the experts don’t give the Sens a fighting chance against Crosby and company, Paul MacLean’s team is used to defying what the experts say. It all starts at the Consol Energy Center tonight.
With last night’s dramatic collapse in Boston, the Ottawa Senators are once again the last Canadian team left standing. And while that often means they’re given the label of “Canada’s team”, I actually really don’t care if the rest of the country gets on board. This is our team.
And our team has their hands full against the Penguins.
The game plan for the Senators should be simple heading into this series. Hit everything that moves. I really think the officiating will have a huge impact on this series. If there is a tendency to let them play, advantage Ottawa. If they call it tight, that Penguins power play will be a nightmare. The Senators need to drag this series into the gutter and make the Pens stars think twice every time they cut through the middle of the ice of pursue a rebound around Anderson.
Jason Spezza is working hard to make his return to the Ottawa line up but won’t be available for Game 1. Game 3 on Sunday back in Ottawa seems like a good bet at this point. No changes expected to the Ottawa line up
Conacher-Turris-Alfredsson
Michalek-Zibanejad-Silfverberg
Greening-Pageau-Condra
Kassian-Smith-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Phillips-Gonchar
Cowen-Gryba
Craig Anderson starts for Ottawa. Tomas Vokoun gets the nod for Pittsburgh. Here is the schedule for the series. All games are 7:30 PM starts with the exception of Game 6 and 7 which have yet to be announced.
GAME 1- @ Pittsburgh- Tuesday, May 14
GAME 2- @ Pittsburgh- Friday, May 17
GAME 3- @ Ottawa- Sunday, May 19
GAME 4- @ Ottawa- Wednesday, May 22
GAME 5- @ Pittsburgh- Friday, May 24
GAME 6- @ Ottawa- Sunday, May 26
GAME 7- @ Pittsburgh- Tuesday, May 28
After crippling injuries all season long, nobody thought this team could grab a playoff spot. They did. Against a Montreal team they said the Sens couldn’t score enough to win. They did. We’ve come this far, so why not take it a little further?
It’s time to shock the world.
GO SENS GO!
- As the last Canadian team left standing, the Sens get the CBC's A-team for this series. That means Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson in the booth with Glenn Healy between the benches. What a treat that will be….
- Kind of a weird schedule to start this series as it will take the Sens and Pens eight days to play the first four games. Probably good news for a Senators team that is hoping to have Jason Spezza healthy and back in the line up. A couple extra days of practice will be huge for him.
