Less than two weeks after clinching a playoff spot, it’s safe to say that the Ottawa Senators weren’t expecting to have their season on the line, down three games to none in their first round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
A fresh, but familiar dose of adversity will make the climb out of the deficit that much harder, after Travis Green informed the media on Thursday afternoon that neither Jake Sanderson or Artem Zub would be available for Game 4 on Saturday afternoon.
The Hurricanes — especially the line of Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake — have throttled the Senators’ offence through three games. The Canes have outscored the Sens 7-3 through three games, with that line accounting for five of the 10 total goals in the series.
“The Stankoven line has been exceptional so far, and the other seven lines are kind of just chipping away,” said Green on Friday after the team gathered for meetings at Canadian Tire Centre.
“We’ve got to just take or earn our way into some more scoring chances, or work or earn our way into them having a few less chances. It’s that kind of series. You can play great, and you’re probably just going to be above average. There’s not a lot of room out there.”
The power play — the source of over a fifth of their goals during the regular season — has been more of a momentum killer than benefit through three games, sucking up seven-and-a-half minutes of ice per game through the three losses, having failed to convert on all 12 opportunities.
“The power play has to be better, there’s no doubt about it. I’m not going to sit here and tell you how it has to be better, either, no coach would talk openly about where they need to make changes or make their power play better,” said Green.
“It’s easy to see the power plays cost us the games. That’s easy. Their power play has one goal this series, ours has none. We’re not where we’re at because of the power play, we’re where we’re at because our game hasn’t been good enough yet.”
Drake Batherson admitted that the team was frustrated on Friday morning after watching back the tape on Thursday’s game, particularly with a lengthy 5-on-3 man-advantage in the second period.
“We just weren’t connected and weren’t sharp and making good plays… with that much pressure, you’ve got to be able to make two or three plays to break them down and get a few shots, a few scoring chances, we’ve just got to be a lot sharper, for sure,” said Batherson.
“I think in this series, we haven’t played our best hockey yet… I think it’s a few different things, once playoffs comes around, there’s so many emotions, maybe we’re running around at times and putting ourselves out of position, which is giving them chances.
“Which is not a lack of effort, guys just want to play hard out there. But it’s tough to control [the emotions], sometimes, I feel like, in an atmosphere like that. But I’m looking forward to [Saturday], we’re going to bring our best to win that game.”
With such frustrations, Green was asked if he has to play the role of a sports psychologist on days like Friday.
“I think that’s part of coaching all the time, in today’s world coaching is definitely not just X’s and O’s, that’s for sure. There’s a lot of communication. I don’t proclaim to be a psychologist, but there is a lot of open dialogue between players and coaches in today’s world.”
Claude Giroux has been here before, helping the Philadelphia Flyers claw all the way back from an identical 3-0 deficit against the Boston Bruins in 2010’s second round en route to his lone Stanley Cup Final experience. It was the first “reverse sweep” in 35 years and stands as one of four in NHL history.
“When we were in that position — a long time ago — it just took belief in the group, we knew we were able come back in the series. You don’t think you’re going to win the series, but you want to get back, you want to give yourself a chance, and the momentum changes,” said Giroux.
“You guys will probably make a story out of it, but for us, it’s Game 4, that’s all we’re worried about.”
