Down 1-0 in the series, the Senators have some serious work to do Monday night if they're to head home with a split.
“A lot of times you’ve got to just be comfortable being uncomfortable.” ~ Jordan Martinook
RALEIGH, NC — In a closely contested game between two of the best defensively structured teams in the NHL, patience is paramount.
Waiting for the opposition to make a mistake to opportunistically counter it can be a challenge.
“We've done a very good job this year and throughout our playoff career of taking what's given to us and trying to limit them as much as we can, and then turn it into offence on our end,” Martinook said while describing how to deal with the frustrations of playing in tightly checked games.
For the Ottawa Senators, they did not look comfortable being uncomfortable.
“I think in the first two periods, we were a little nervous and didn't execute on our plays, on our passing,” Tim Stutzle stated from the team hotel yesterday. “We still had some decent looks, but they sold out. They were blocking a lot of shots, and their goaltender was obviously great.”
The key for the Senators in game two will be cleaner breakouts, and that starts with better execution from their defencemen. To alleviate that burden, it will be the Senators’ forwards' responsibility to support them.
“They're man on man everywhere, so everyone’s got a guy on them,” explained Drake Batherson. “If we have to rim some pucks, we've got to own those on the wall and make sure we're getting pucks out. Then, we’re generating a forecheck that way. It's going to be hard, no matter what we do. It's going to be a grind, and we’re trying to stick to it.”
If the Senators can move the puck efficiently from the defensive zone into the neutral zone, it will open up the game for them, especially in the offensive zone.
“We have got to find ways to hold on to the pucks more,” Batherson explained. “Challenge some guys, put some guys on our backs in the o-zone, and try to create some space that way, by beating a guy and then taking it to the net. It should open a few things up and generate some more o-zone time.
“Obviously, we only spent like two and a half minutes in their end. By getting more pucks to the net and recovering those pucks, it will lead to more space and them getting tired.”
The Senators have been good all year at bouncing back from games in which some of their execution was not at its best.
“That's what we've done all year,” Thomas Chabot said through a smile. “We hold each other accountable, and we know there are a lot of guys in this room that want to do better and play better. We're going to bring it (tonight). It's a hell of a hockey team that we play. They finished first for a reason, but at the end of the day, we know we can compete with anybody, and that's where we want to show them.”
It will not be easy for the Senators, especially if Artem Zub is unable to play.
Head coach Travis Green indicated that Zub would be a game-time decision tonight, but if he cannot go, Nik Matinpalo will take his place on the top pairing with Jake Sanderson, with Lassi Thomson making his NHL playoff debut on the third pairing with Dennis Gilbert.
Here were the lines from this morning’s skate:
Batherson-Stutzle-Giroux
Tkachuk-Cozens-Greig
Cousins-Pinto-Amadio
Foegele-Eller-Zetterlund
Sanderson-Matinpalo
Chabot-Spence
Gilbert-Thomson
It is worth noting that Tyler Kleven took part in the morning skate, ditching the non-contact jersey he wore on Friday morning at Senators practice. Despite the change, Kleven has been ruled out for tonight’s game. He stayed out with the black aces group following practice to get in more work. The big defenceman has been wearing a jaw protector on his helmet for the past few on-ice workouts, but it is not surprising to see him remain out of the lineup.
At one point during Friday’s practice before leaving for Carolina, Kleven took an inadvertent Brady Tkachuk stick to the left side of his helmet during a drill. Kleven stopped, visibly in pain from the contact. Going from that to a physical series in which 96 hits were thrown in game one needs significant progression.
Speaking of that physicality, the Carolina Hurricanes brought that in spades in Saturday’s game one.
“The physicality in the playoffs gets ramped up,” Martinook clarified. “You look at every single game, there's just more hitting in the playoffs because everybody knows, the more you can wear a team down, it's going to be harder as the series goes on.
“Every year, we try to bring that element. We have got guys that can play physical in here, and even our guys that are, you look at (Seth Jarvis), he probably was top three on our team and hits this year. So we’ve got some guys that can do that. It's all about trying to wear the other team down.”
Carolina finished the regular season ranked 18th in hits. As effective as their physicality was, the question is, can that level of physicality be sustained over a longer series?
“That's usually how the first game goes, especially the first period,” Seth Jarvis stated while describing the level of physicality in game one. “Everyone kind of forgets there's a puck out there and is just skating full speed, hitting anything that moves. So, it's obviously hard to sustain that, but we're gonna try our best.”
Logan Stankoven noticed the drop in physicality during the third period, which coincidentally, just happened to be Ottawa’s best in the game.
“The first period was pretty physical,” Stankoven said. “Then, as the game goes on, guys aren't running around as much and trying to find hits. When you can catch a guy, it's great, but you don't want to put yourself out of position.”
One thing the Senators will hope is not sustained is the performance of one of the league’s best checking lines. In game one at five-on-five, the Nick Cousins, Shane Pinto, and Michael Amadio line generated zero shots on goal to the Hurricanes’ five, according to Money Puck. The third line failed to even direct a shot on goal at Carolina’s Frederik Andersen.
The trio expects to play better in game two.
“We know it's gonna be a tight checking game, but there wasn't much space out there,” said Michael Amadio. “We just have to find a way to generate more shots. Obviously, getting on the forecheck and stealing pucks and kind of creating o-zone time. We need to do a better job of getting to that tonight.”
“We just need to forecheck a little better,” Shane Pinto exclaimed. “We just have to be more connected. Every time we tried to break out, we just weren't really clean with it. Then we had to chase it. (Carolina) is pretty good at kind of punting pucks and tracking, and it gets a little exhausting.
“We just have to be more connected, make some passes to each other, and then get into the zone, get to our forecheck, and then that's when the shots will come.”
“We need to respond,” Nick Cousins emphatically stated. “As a line, we didn't generate a whole lot of offence. Felt like we were in our zone a lot. When you're in your zone a lot, you have no energy to create offence. Cleaner breakouts and being connected on the forecheck is what we've done all year, so our game doesn't change. We just have to simplify our game when things aren't going well. But, credit to the (Stankoven) line. They played well.”
Sanderson on His Faceoff
In the third period of game one, the Senators were down two men on the penalty kill when Claude Giroux was kicked out of the faceoff draw. With Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson being on the ice, it necessitated a defenceman taking the draw. Thanks to Chabot having a broken arm, the duty fell to Sanderson.
Ironically, it was not the first faceoff Sanderson had taken.
"I actually have taken a draw. It was like two years ago, I think, on the penalty kill, too, because somebody got kicked out. It was a weird situation, for sure. I was planning on just shooting it out, but I don't think I touched the puck." ~ Jake Sanderson on taking a draw in the third period of game one.
Sanderson took a neutral zone faceoff on April 7, 2024 against Washington, beating centre Dylan Strome. It was a big night for the defenceman as he scored 41 seconds into overtime to win the game 3-2 for Ottawa.
Matthew Tkachuk In Attendance Tonight
According to a source, Matthew Tkachuk will be in attendance with the rest of the Tkachuk family to support Brady. After Brady has supported Matthew throughout the years during his playoff runs, the Florida Panther will finally have an opportunity to return the favour tonight.
Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
First Blood: Senators Fall To Carolina 2-0 In Stanley Cup Playoff Opener
The Farm System Everyone Doubted Helped Save The Senators Season
Rick Bowness Clarifies That Only Some Of His Players "Don't Care"
Rod Brind'Amour Describes Senators As 'A Huge Challenge' In Round One
Through All The Noise, The Playoff-Bound Senators Held Their Ground
Brady Tkachuk Describes Brief Vision Loss During Game As 'Weird And Scary'