3 Things to Watch: Senators at Hurricanes, Game 2 of Eastern Conference 1st Round

(2WC) Senators at (1M) Hurricanes

Eastern Conference First Round, Game 2

Carolina leads best-of-7 series 1-0 

7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, ESPN2, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS, CBC

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Ottawa Senators will be better prepared for Game 2 of their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Monday.

“It’s playoff hockey, it’s exciting,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said after the morning skate. “We have to play a little better.”

There is little appetite among the Senators to go home for Game 3 down 0-2 in this best-of-7 series. History suggests it’s a recipe for disaster.

Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series own a series record of 360-58 (.861), including 270-36 (.882) when starting at home. 

After a 2-0 loss in Game 1, Green said he expects each team to ramp up the compete level as the series goes along. What was on display in Game 1 -- no space, contested entries, board battles and limited clean looks -- will continue.

It is in each team’s DNA to play this way. 

Ottawa had 22 shots in Game 1, but 13 came in the third period when it was chasing the game, helped by five shots on a single power play. Carolina had 29 shots, but 14 came in the third when the Senators got into penalty trouble.

“I don’t think either coach likes to use the word patient,” Green said Sunday.  “When you use that word, it feels like you are sitting back. This is the opposite of that. Persistent. Both teams are going to be persistent with their game, and there are going to be a lot of singles hit instead of home runs. 

“I think we have a better game in us than (Saturday), and we hope to improve game to game.” 

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour also hopes his team plays better and doesn’t rest on its laurels.

It will take an extra level, he says, to win each of the ensuing games in this series. The thinness of the margins and the premium on space have been his mantra since this series was finalized. 

“It didn’t take Game 1 to figure that out,” Brind’Amour said. “It played out exactly how we thought it would. We play very similar and they have good players.”

Here are 3 things to watch in Game 2:

1. Will Zub or won’t Zub?

Artem Zub is a game-time decision for Ottawa.

The defenseman sustained an undisclosed injury on his first shift of the second period in Game 1 while checking forward Seth Jarvis. Part of the Senators’ No. 1 pair, Zub played 7:44 before leaving the game. He averaged 20:48 of ice time during the regular season and was plus-22 in 81 games.

Missing defensemen is nothing new for Ottawa; it dressed 13 over the course of the regular season, a number higher than Green could remember in his coaching career.

“Obviously our pairs have been jumbled up a bit (because of injuries),” defenseman Jake Sanderson said. “I think that is kind of the beauty of our team; we are all very close on the back end. We know each other’s games pretty well.”  

If Zub is unavailable, it appears Lassi Thomson will join the lineup and Nikolas Matinpalo will be promoted to the first pair with Sanderson, who played 27:25 in Game 1.

2. Hall pass

The line of Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven was the difference in Game 1, scoring both goals -- Stankoven off a sloppy shot in the slot in the second period, Hall with a final touch of a pinballing puck around the crease of Linus Ullmark in the third.

Stankoven had six shots on goal; Hall had five.

Throughout the game, Brind’Amour tried to match them against Ottawa’s line of Shane Pinto, Nick Cousins and Michael Amadio. Green didn’t say he was going to try to get away from it, a difficult task when he has to declare first during line changes.
 
“I think if they play better; that was their matchup,” Green said. “They weren’t at their best, but they have been a good line for us all year.”

3. Hold that thought

To a man, the Senators said they were too quick to give up the puck in Game 1.

It might have had something to do with the 57 hits from the Hurricanes, but many of Ottawa’s forwards said it was incumbent on them to hold onto the puck more in the offensive end to create chances and get more volume at Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen.

“Speaking for myself, I think the first two periods, we were kind of throwing too many pucks toward the net and not holding on to it, not creating a lot of possession time,” Senators first-line center Tim Stutzle said. “That’s my game -- hold onto pucks, makes those plays.

“I think in the third (period), we created way more. Obviously in the third, the power play was real good and the first two (earlier in game) were awful. I think we’ve got a lot more to give.” 

Senators projected lineup

Drake Batherson -- Tim Stützle -- Claude Giroux

Brady Tkachuk -- Dylan Cozens -- Ridley Greig

Nick Cousins -- Shane Pinto -- Mike Amadio

Warren Foegele -- Lars Eller -- Fabian Zetterlund

Jake Sanderson -- Nikolas Matinpalo

Thomas Chabot -- Jordan Spence

Dennis Gilbert -- Lassi Thomson

Linus Ullmark

James Reimer

Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Stephen Halliday, Hayden Hodgson, Cameron Crotty, Graeme Clarke, Arthur Kaliyev, Xavier Bourgeault, Oscar Pettersson, Tyler Boucher, Carter Yakemchuk

Injured: Artem Zub (undisclosed), Tyler Kleven (upper body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Jordan Staal -- Jordan Martinook

William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin -- Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller -- Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: None

Status report

Zub, a defenseman, did not participate in the morning skate and will be a game-time decision after he left in the second period of Game 1 on Saturday. … Yakemchuk, a defenseman, and forwards Clarke, Kaliyev, Bourgeault, Pettersson and Boucher were recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Sunday. … The Hurricanes will use the same lineup from their 2-0 victory in Game 1.