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Game Day: Ottawa @ Pittsburgh

February 13, 2018, 11:31 AM ET [77 Comments]
Jared Crozier
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
For the first time since the heartbreaking game 7 double-OT loss in the Eastern Conference Final, the Ottawa Senators will pay a visit to Pittsburgh and face the Penguins.

The two clubs did meet earlier this season, a 3-1 Pens win in Ottawa.

While that game last May was certainly a disappointment given how close they were to advancing to their second Stanley Cup Final, at least there was some optimism and a little bit of satisfaction about advancing that far.

Such is not the case this time around, as the floundering Senators look nothing like the disciplined, system-oriented group that might not have been pretty to watch, did their jobs as a group and the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

The Senators might be considered by some to have been fortunate to have advanced that far, but they probably weren't the second best team in the East and they did have the easier road through the first two rounds, but they aren't as bad on paper as they look this time around either.

Massive upheavals in the front office has this team looking very Mickey-Mouse off the ice and that has translated onto it, whether that is by coincidence or otherwise.

I said yesterday that the Senators might need to hit rock bottom, jettison and start over from scratch, and no team illustrates that than the Penguins. Sure, the whole group might not be still around, and it was really a fortunate happenstance that they got Sidney Crosby in the ultimate draft lottery, but the core that was built around drafting him, Marc Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal in the top 3 in four consecutive years made them competitive and a reason for veterans to go there.

Three Stanley Cups and 11 straight playoff appearances later, and they shooting for 3 in a row this season, a feat that hasn't been accomplished since the Islanders won 4 straight from 1980-83.

The Penguins might not be the favorites this time around, but certainly have to be taken seriously and they are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, but by no means are they free and clear. There are a lot of teams very close and they are a couple of losses away from being in trouble, the Metro is that close.

So you can bet that they want to continue the momentum of the 4-1 win over the Blues on Sunday and not let up against a struggling team that they should beat.

Sidney Crosby had a pair in that win over the Blues, finally netting his 400th and 401st goals of his career, snapping a 10 game goal-less drought. He did have 13 assists in those 10 games so its not like he wasn't contributing. In fact, in their17 games played in 2018, Crosby (5G, 22A) and Malkin (16G, 11A) each have 27 points to lead the league in that time frame and they have moved into the top 10 in scoring.

Mike Condon is expected to get the start after coming in to relieve Craig Anderson during the loss in Toronto, and although they skated yesterday Nate Thompson and Gabriel Dumont aren't ready to return so the Senators recalled Max McCormick yesterday after sending him and Mike Blunden down to Belleville after Thursday's Nashville game . I know in my head that the Senators didn't just pull over on the 401 and let them out of the team bus on the side of the 401 as they drove by on their way to Toronto for Saturday night's game, but part of me doesn't completely dismiss the notion that that is indeed how it went down.

As a result it looks like Guy Boucher might go back to 12 forwards and 6 defensemen after going 11-7 the past couple of games. Maybe the Auston Matthews goal in the first period on Saturday night where confusion reigned with 3 wingers on the ice had something to do with that.

Either that, or with less than two weeks left before the deadline, they just want an extra body around in case someone gets moved during the day.
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