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Believe It!
The Ottawa Senators did just what they have done over the past two months in the final game of the regular season in Philadelphia, and that is do just enough to win.
Despite being badly outplayed at times and badly outshot, the Sens used good goaltending and timely scoring to walk out of Philly with two points and a date with Montreal in the first round.
Mark Stone was the leader offensively once again as he continued his remarkable display of clutch ability scoring twice, opening the scoring with a relatively easy goal set up by Clarke MacArthur, and then when the game was in the balance he stole the puck from Jakub Voracek and calmly slid it through the legs of Steve Mason to give the Senators some breathing room.
Stone's performance put a cap on what should at least be a Calder-nominated season, finishing tied with Johnny Gaudreau for the rookie scoring lead, leading all rookies in +/- and leading the league in takeaways. Imagine what his totals could have been like if he was not so mis-used by Paul MacLean early on in the season when the Kid Line was so effective yet underplayed.
And what more can be said about the play of Andrew Hammond? He finished the season with 20 wins, all coming since his first start on February 18th against...you guessed it, the Montreal Canadiens, who he also beat again about 3 weeks later. Hammond's 20 wins came in 23 starts and his save percentage and GAA were the best among any goalie playing in more than 2 games, but not enough to qualify among the "league leaders" in those categories.
I will preface this next part by admitting I watched this one at a hotel bar in downtown Montreal. For the past couple of weeks, when the playoffs became a legitimate possibility for the Senators, and it looked like the Habs might be the first round opponent, the "Habs don't want anything to do with the Senators" mantra gained ground. I will admit, part of me believed that it was more a function of Senators' fans stating that as a sort of rallying cry.
Well let me tell you, it is legitimate. Almost to a fan, as the Senators were clinching and Habs fans realized that is was a very distinct possibility that they would meet, there is a legitimate fear for the matchup, that later in the night was confirmed. I joked on Twitter that the entire city trembled because Habs fans were shaking in their boots. Quite honestly, there was a defeated look in their eyes before the series even begins that the Habs were defeated already.
Not to say that is representative of all Habs fans, but there is certainly a significant segment of the fan base that is afraid of the roll the Senators are on and how the Senators have had the number in important games over recent seasons.
The schedule for the first round was released last night, and the Senators will kick off the series in Montreal on Wednesday and Friday, with CTC hosting playoff hockey on Sunday and next Wednesday.
I will spend the next couple of days previewing the match-up and what you could expect to happen, but for today, just bask in the glory of the single biggest comeback season in the history of the NHL. No team has ever been as many as 14 points back at any point in the season and made the playoffs. And this came in a season where it took a record number of points to make it to the post-season.
A job well done, one mission accomplished, and now the real work begins.