What a difference a year makes.
Actually, to be more specific, what a difference five months make.
Going into the 2007-'08 regular season, the Senators were riding high, fresh off a Stanley Cup final appearance and primed and ready to prove that playoff hangover was just a myth. And after 17 games and a 15-2 start, the best ever by any team, all was well in Hockey Country.
Then, the walls started falling down.
Goaltenders were inconsistent both in the net and off the ice. The losses started piling up and the players had no answer. The coach got fired, and a team that was (however unfairly) compared to the 1975-'76 Montreal Canadiens juggernaut needed a Carolina loss in their last game to even get back into the playoffs.
Losing six of your last eight games, and thanks to Toronto's Mark Bell, also losing two of your top five forwards for an indeterminate time, definitely is not the way you want to enter the post-season.
That being said, the slate is clean, and everyone is starting on even ground. The question is—do the Senators have enough to defeat the upstart Penguins?
Those looking for positives can look at the 3-0-1 record they posted against the Penguins this season and the 4-1 playoff trouncing they subjected Sid the Kid and his team to one year ago.
It can be done, but three vital things must happen, and they are my Senators' Keys to Victory:
1. Play on the edge, not over it: The Senators must finish all checks, especially on the fore check against the suspect Pittsburgh defensive corps. Forcing turnovers in the Pittsburgh zone and capitalizing on them is paramount, and they must score one "ugly" goal per game. They must be aggressive with the skilled Penguin forwards but cannot cross the line and take penalties, or they will get eaten alive by the Pittsburgh power-play.
2. Score the first goal: Without Alfredsson and Fisher, the offensive firepower will not be there to mount a comeback. The Senators need a quick start, which might put some doubt in the players' minds as to the ability of Marc-Andre Fleury to excel when the heat is turned up.
3. Martin Gerber must make key saves: He doesn't need to shut out the Penguins, and let's face it, they are going to score goals. But the saves at the key times in the games (late in periods, down by one goal) could be the boost the Sens and give them the confidence to play at the level they need to.
Can the Senators win the series? Of course they can. The core of the team is still intact from last year, and if they can hold out and get any or all of Alfredsson, Fisher, or Kelly back for game three or four, anything can happen.
Spezza and Heatley are still dynamic and could carry a team over the course of a series. Cory Stillman is a savvy veteran who has a pair of Cup rings and the respect of the players. He'll have a voice in the room and is a key to the power play.
Will the Senators win the series? Even the most die-hard Senators fan has to be disillusioned with performance of the club in the last 50 games. They have not shown the form lately that suggests they can win a game, let alone a series. There are too many "what-ifs" and too many things that must fall into place for the Senators to win the series.
The list above are all keys to victory, but none have been demonstrated abilities on a consistent basis for an inconsistent club.
PENGUINS IN FIVE
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6 months ago
I really love the Senators a lot, and I am a diehard fan, but I do not think they have a chance against the Burgh. You can tell that Pittsburgh wanted the Sens with how hard they tanked the last game agains Philly, and rightfully so. Philly is much more dangerous than Ottawa.
Nice Article
6 months ago
I'm enjoying Sens fans drinking their coaches' Kool-Aid with the notion that the Pens tanked their last game....Who wouldnt want to add a conference championship banner to the rafters of their building? Who wouldnt want guaranteed home ice throughout the entire playoffs? Did you watch the game? Fleury wanted a shutout and his 20th win, but Biron was a wall for the Flyers. Yeah, the Pens tanked, and they'll tank game 4 in Ottawa just so they can win the series at home. Gimme a break.
6 months ago
If you're Pittsburgh, do you want to play Philly (a team on the uprise) or Ottawa (a team on the downfall). Sure, a conference banner and Fleury's 20th win is all fine and dandy, but the playoffs are what counts, and winning the Stanley Cup counts. If Pittsburgh needed to drop the last game to face a struggling team to increase their odds, so be it.
But if Pittsburgh REALLY gave 100% to win, and played like that...wow...
6 months ago
Game #1, end result, 4-0 Pittsburgh, Sens are in deep it seems...
6 months ago
well game one has come and gone
two stories here
1. the senators look god awful
2. crosby was useless for the pens, with one half decent wrap around attempt the whole game he couldnt register a single point against the wounded sens.
i think if the pens continue to inflate crosby's value he will be covered while more usefull players like Malkin will snipe wins for the pens.
6 months ago
pittsburgh tanking is nothing new, i dont know why it surprises people
only a few years ago they were intentioanlly tanking their end season for three straight seasons to move up in the draft.
i laught at people who commend the pens for their 'rebuilding', they didnt rebuild, they were awful for several years and made sure they were god awful at the end of the season the land high in the draft then got lucky at the draft lottery not only in winning it but also in wining it in the two years a superstar was up for grabs -- in the case where the capitals snached ovechkin they got lucky that there was another super russian available and grabbed malkin.
pittsburgh is shameless.
but i guess its easier for superficial fans to be happy about what the 'pens' accomplished while real fans in toronto suffer while their leafs decide to make an end season playoff drive screwing them in the draft, but at least playing to win is nothing to be ashamed of.
in any case, no way the pens keep malkin as well as crosby (as well as gonchar and so on), my prediciton: a big market team will steal malkin, finding some way around the salary cap if necessary (yankess do it all the time)
malkin to toronto vancouver or montreal
6 months ago
Alfredsson is not the reason the Sens will be out early, this team's shelf life has passed and they are now running on fumes. No goaltending, no leadership, no heart and now seemigly, no hockey sense will be the same downfalls that have done this team in every year, regardless of how far they get.
6 months ago
After last night, no defense seems to come up more and more as the problem.
Gerber looked fantastic from halfway through the first until the end of the game, you can't expect him to turn away everything from the Penguins attack, they're so well rounded in its top two lines.
Ottawa's scoring chances were up there as the game went on, but just couldn't get to M.A. Fleury (who looks much stronger than I've ever seen him in the NHL).
Splitting up Phillips and Volchenkov didn't do too much as they were ineffective without each other, Redden was god awful, then there's Lee (a rookie defenseman...yeah) and Mezsaros (who keeps making rookie mistakes in his THIRD season with the Sens). The only defenseman that was trying to set a tone in the game was Mike Commodore, he's not the fastest player, and shouldn't be on the ice if he's supposed to shadow Malkin or Crosby.
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