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Ottawa Senators: Game 3 @ TD Garden Thoughts

By Conor Peniston-Bird

Apr 15, 2017; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; The Ottawa Senators celebrate a goal scored by defenseman Chris Wideman (6) in the third period against the Boston Bruins in game two of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; The Ottawa Senators celebrate a goal scored by defenseman Chris Wideman (6) in the third period against the Boston Bruins in game two of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports /
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I hope you’ve had 24 hours to recover from Game 2, because tonight we do it all over again. This time however, it’s in enemy territory, the Ottawa Senators head to Boston.

Saturday night will live long in the memory of every Ottawa Senator fan. The heartbreak and anger that lead to the ecstasy of Dion Phaneuf’s overtime winner. The Sens deserved that win, Boston played hard but 1-1 in the series was a fair reflection.

We now have to turn our attention towards tonight. One look at the Bruins defensive pairings and you’d be forgiven for having confidence. Here’s how Boston’s D-pairings are expected to look:

Chara-McAvoy

Morrow- K. Miller

Liles-Cross

Wow. Depleted isn’t even strong enough a word to describe it. Rotten luck for the Boston Bruins, of course you want your team to win but you want to be the superior team. Wishing for injuries is poor sportsmanship, we want to see the best play the best. However, the Ottawa Senators can only play what is put in front of them. In all honesty, the Sens offense hasn’t exactly been firing so an early goal will be crucial to prevent that defense from growing in confidence. For a lot of those Bruins, this is their chance in the limelight, sink or swim time.

Sens Lineup

Hoffman-Pageau-Stone

MacArthur-Brassard-Ryan

Burrows-Turris-Dzingel

Pyatt-Smith-Stalberg

Phaneuf-Karlsson

Methot-Ceci

Harpur-Wideman

Offensive Pressure From The Off

With Borowiecki out, he will be missed in terms of his physicality. The onus is on attacking in this game, something the Ottawa Senators have deeply struggled with. The Boston Bruins defence is there for taking quite frankly, they will not face a weaker blue-line this postseason. Puck on net, rattle Tukka Rask who will be wary of the inexperience in front of him. Boucher will have players causing havoc in front of the Bruins netminder, with the Sens looking to bully this defence.

Final Thoughts

If the Ottawa Senators show the same intensity and passion they did in the third period of Game 2, they will leave TD garden with a 2-1 series lead. The potential is there, the opportunity has arisen through Boston’s misfortune and they now need to seize.

This all comes with a word of warning, beware the wounded beast.

#ALLIN

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