No Fish Could Save Pittsburgh in Ottawa
Troy Geary recounts his experience of attending the 5–1 Senators win over Pittsburgh in Game Three.
Home is sweet for the Ottawa Senators.
I was fortunate enough to take in my fourth game of the playoffs in person on Wednesday night. The loudest crowd at Canadian Tire Centre all season was ready for this one, and so were the Senators. Ottawa laughed Pittsburgh off the ice in a four goal first period en route to a 5–1 victory.
The Sens now lead the Eastern Conference Final 2–1, and look to take a commanding advantage by winning Game Three on Friday.
Ottawa Keys To Victory
The keys to victory in Game Four are subtle. Ottawa has small adjustments that need to be made. Craig Anderson has done everything you could ask for, making key saves at key times. He will continue to be called upon to hold off an expected aggressive push early on next game. The defending champs will be looking to atone for the blowout loss in Game Three by striking early and often.
Remaining aggressive on the forecheck will be key against an inexperienced and injury riddled Penguins blue line missing their two best defensemen. Ottawa must make sure to avoid silly retaliation penalties against the Pens, who are trying to shift the momentum before the series slips away.
Continuing the dominant five on five play will been crucial to the Senators success. They’ve outscored the Penguins seven to two in the series at even strength.
Ottawa also skipped having an off day practice on Thursday.
Alex Burrows left Game Three after his left ankle gave out during a 2nd period power play and did not return. Burrows status for Game Four is unknown, as he was unable to put any weight on the injured ankle while being helped to the dressing room.
Pittsburgh Keys To Victory
The Pens have to find a way to keep their stars from getting frustrated. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel have a combined 5 points through three games in the series. Malkin and Kessel in particular have been visibly frustrated throughout the first three games.
This slump cannot continue if Pittsburgh is going to claw back into the series. Their three All Star forwards have as many points as Senators shutdown defenseman Marc Methot in this this series. With Kris Letang and Justin Schultz sidelined by injuries, their power play has been significantly compromised, so the scoring will have to come at even strength.
The Penguins have not made a decision on who will start Game Four after Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled in the first period. Fleury will likely get one more opportunity to hold onto the number one goaltending job. Matt Murray, despite being the starting goaltender in the regular season, has not started since hurting himself in the warm-up of Game One of the first round.
At this point, the over reliance on assistant coaches Jacques Martin and Rick Tocchet has not worked for Head Coach Mike Sullivan. If the Penguins star players continue to go silent, the chances of see the defending Stanley Cup champions repeating could melt away with a loss in Game Four.
History is on Ottawa’s side, as they are 10–1 in franchise history when they grab a 2–1 series lead . This team has answered the call when they needed to, and I expect the Senators to defend home ice.
Troy Geary is a hockey writer for theocho.ca. Look forward to regular contributions from Troy on all things Senators and NHL.
