The Senators accomplished their mission on Saturday afternoon - avoid going down 2-0 at home and heading to Boston in a big hole.
Dion Phaneuf's OT winner was a huge lift to the club, as was Clarke MacArthur's first goal in almost two full calendar years.
Whether you believe momentum can carry over from one game to the next or not, going to Boston with the series deadlocked at 1 is far, far superior to being down 2-0, and that fact alone has to have the Senators in a better mindset over what could have been.
Now, they have to wrestle home ice advantage back, in what is now a best of five series that has been, as predicted, too close to really say either team has any distinct advantage.
Both teams have come from behind wins, with Boston scoring twice in the third period of game 1 to overcome a 1-0 deficit, and the Senators unexpectedly showing a burst of offense with two third period goals and one more early in overtime to overcome a 3-1 hole.
Injuries will continue to be the storyline, as the Bruins will have a number of question marks heading into their first home game of the post-season, especially on their blue line. Torey Krug, Brendan Carlo, Colin Miller and Adam McQuaid are all considered day-to-day, and there is a strong possibility that Miller will return after being injured in a game 1 collision with Mark Bororwiecki. Up front, there is still no sign of David Krejci, although the Bruins might get Noel Acciari back, or at least available to play should the Bruins want to make a change. I am sure they would rather have Krejci but his return has not even been discussed as a possibility at this point.
For the Senators, Borowiecki left game 2 with a leg injury, and is questionable for tonight's game, and if he can't go it will either be Freddie Claesson coming back into the lineup, or possibly Ben Harpur making his playoff debut.
It is still early in the series, but the Senators need more production from their forwards, plain and simple. Ottawa skaters have 12 points total in the two games, with 6 points coming from defensemen (Phaneuf - 3, Karlsson - 2 Wideman -1) and 6 coming from forwards (Ryan & Brassard 2 each, MacArthur & Stone, 1 each). Kyle Turris and Mike Hoffman were their top two goal scorers this season and both are pointless so far, and their offensive contribution would go a long way to making game 3 a successful one.
As has been the case, it will probably come down to goaltending and which goalie can make that key save at the key time. Ottawa got away with a Craig Anderson miscue in the second period of Saturday's game, but despite allowing one more on the power play he was good after that in keeping his team in the game and allowing the comeback to happen.