Senators lose, first-round opponent remains a mystery
And still we wait.
The Boston Bruins 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, coupled with the Washington Capitals victory over the Florida Panthers, means the Senators won’t know their playoff opponent until late Saturday.
If the Senators pick up a point in their regular season finale against the New Jersey Devils or if the Capitals don’t win against the New York Rangers, the Senators and Bruins will face off next week.
But if the Senators lose in regulation and the Capitals win, the Senators will slide into eighth spot in the Eastern Conference and face the Rangers in the post-season.
If nothing else, the delay allows for an intriguing debate about whether the Senators match up better against the Bruins or the Rangers.
The Senators certainly had their chances to resolve matters Thursday, but a largely unknown goaltender named Anton Khudobin made all the difference, stopping 44 of 45 shots for the Bruins.
With the Bruins leading 2-1 late in the third period, Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson had the tying goal on his stick after taking a pass from Zack Smith, but missed an open net.
“It was a little bit too far ahead, I couldn’t really get my stick on it as much as I would have liked, but it’s still a good pass, just unfortunate,” said Karlsson.
Bruins forward Milan Lucic then put the game out of reach, beating Senators goaltender Ben Bishop, who showed signs of rust while playing his first game since suffering a groin injury on March 24.
While the game was largely short on intensity — Karlsson called it “slow” and Lucic said “it kind of seemed like nobody wanted to get hurt” — it did end with some verbal fireworks.
Senators coach Paul MacLean was booted out after exchanging colourful language with the officials over a disputed icing call. Asked for his reaction to the game misconduct, MacLean paused for seven seconds, then replied, “I can’t afford it.”
While MacLean didn’t have anything positive to say about the officials, he was satisified with the way his team played. He isn’t concerned with the delay in determining the playoff opponent.
“It’s between two teams (the Bruins or Rangers), so I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
Even though captain Daniel Alfredsson thought the Senators played well enough to win Thursday, he acknowledged there has been an emotional letdown ever since the team clinched a playoff berth on Sunday.
“Both teams played pretty good, but it’s not close to being a playoff-type game, with the intensity you’re going to see next week,” he said. “It’s more mental than anything.”
The pre-game hype centred around the possibility of the contest being a playoff preview, but there were limited skirmishes after the whistles.
Benoit Pouliot and Greg Zanon also scored for the Bruins, while Jason Spezza scored the lone Senators goal. Zanon’s goal, which ended up being the game winner, was a weak one.
“I don’t know how it went in,” said Bishop. “It went off the tip of my glove. It was one of those one in a thousand plays.”
Khudobin, meanwhile, was making a name for himself in his Bruins debut. Khudobin, who could serve as a backup to Bruins No. 1 goaltender Tim Thomas when the playoffs begin, had played five previous NHL games with Minnesota, sporting a 4-1 record, with a 1.39 goals against average.
As tame as the game was, familiarity will become contempt if the teams meet each other next week.
“We’ve had our battles against these guys,” said Lucic. “We don’t back down from them and they don’t back down from us and it’s a possibility we will get them in the first round. I think it would definitely become a nasty series.”
With their lacklustre play and missed opportunities coupled with subpar goaltending from Ben Bishop, the Senators need not worry about facing the Bruins again this year. If they can’t score on a Boston goalie making his NHL debut, the Senators sure aren’t going to beat New Jersey on Saturday and as such they will finish as the 8th seed. After backing into the play-offs, the Senators will be annihilated in four straight by the New York Rangers. Judging by the performances of the last two games, it is quite apparent that the Senators do not have the skill or meddle to win a play-off game let alone a seven game series.
Why are people still saying Sens might fall into 8th?
1. – If Sens win tomorrow, or Washington loses, then Sens have 7th locked-up. That’s clear.
2. – If Washington wins and Sens lose, then we both have 92 points. Washington moves ahead of us in the standings. Also clear.
But that won’t leave us in 8th because…
Washington’s final game is against Florida. So in scenario 2, Florida will be the losers. They will also finish with 92 points. And since their ROW is less than the Sens, then Florida drops to 8th. Not the Sens.
So Sens can not possibly finish in 8th. Right? Or am I missing something???
You’re absolute;y right.
You bring up a good point, in that people forget that Washington may overtake Florida.
However, Washington is facing the Rangers next, and Florida is facing Carolina.
So for the Sens to face NYR:
(1) Sens have to lose; AND
(2) Washington has to win against top-seeded NYR; AND
(3) Florida has to get at least one point.
I’d say it’s about 90% certain that Sens will face the Bruins. If the Sens play anything like last night, it may be a short-lived first round.
@Doubting Thomas:
What you’re missing is that Washington’s last game isn’t against Florida, it’s against NYR. You’re right though in that there is a 3rd scenario where: Sens lose, Caps win and Florida loses against Carolina (kinda unlikely given the stakes for Florida, being the difference between playing Rangers or Devils) – which would result in Sens staying in 7th.
@No Sens Icons:
It’s ridiculous to write-off the Sens based on our last two games which had an understandable lack of intensity after an impressive push to lock down our playoff spot. Both those games had more than their fair share of scoring opportunities marred by some strong (and lucky) goal tending – not to mention some laughable refereeing. There wasn’t much stopping those games ending in very different results. Should’ve we have won them? Of course. Does it imply anything about our playoff ability? Hardly.
That said, our wide shots, weak power plays and sometimes sketchy goaltending will need to come good for us to step-up come playoffs. But to say that we don’t have the skill to win a single playoff game is on the same level of ignorance as those that said we’d finish last in the league. If nothing else this season, Sens have proven that they’re at their best in high intensity games against the top teams in the league. Pretty much every hot streak we’ve had this season has started by beating a hot top ranked team that everyone said we had no business beating.
I sure hope you’re a Leafs fan with that attitude mate, cause I expect better from Sens fans. I’m not saying that we’re genuine cup contenders, but with nothing to lose we’re definitely dangerous underdogs that shouldn’t be underestimated.