The Sens don't deserve to be down 3-0 in this series, but at the same time it couldn't have been totally unexpected...The Habs are a VERY good team with the best goalie in hockey and some huge playoff experience that Ottawa doesn't yet have...they are now getting....but they don't yet have have..
Two OT losses are heartbreaking indeed, and losing after a brilliant effort by Anderson tonight really stings....a terrible bounce off of a stantion. The Sens got a lot of bounces to make it into the playoffs and right now the Sens aren't getting those bounces.... BUT at the end of the day I never felt it was fair to put this team into the "favorite" mold so many others placed them in prior to this series.
And now...down 3-0 perhaps the Sens can once again weave their magic from the cinderella spot. They have proven to be at their best in these spots...should they go back to Hammond? I don't think you can make a wrong call with either goalie...Anderson has so much experience and is a warrior capable of stealing a game..Hammond probably deserves his shot to pull another rabbit out of his hat.
The Sens drew a Canadiens team that knows how to win and is very good at finding new ways night after night...I said it before...these teams are so similar...one just has more experience doing it in the post season and Carey Price.
The Sens and their fans really should't be down tonight....they are doing this with so many great young stars and Mark Stone is playing with one hand obviously. The Sens are at the very beginning of what should be a long and wide open window....and oh by the way...they are still alive and with as close as the first three games have been ANYTHING is possible.
We have seen the "down 3-0 come back" twice in the last 5 years. It is all about shifting the pressure and winning one game.
The Recipe...
Game 4 is very do-able. The Sens are due a bounce or two. Highly possible they play better with the pressure off.
Game 5 is the hardest. The Habs go home with a chance to end it. However, whenever we talk in retrospect about a 3-0 comeback or a 3-1 comeback its the fifth game that the team with the lead regrets the most. This is the "focus" game. The leading team needs to play desperate hockey, despite the fact they still have 3 chances to end it.
Game 6 is the nightmare game for the leading team...especially if it is away as it will be for the Habs. This is the game that could send it back for a gut wrenching and terrifying home game 7...If the Sens have taken games 4 and 5 the momentum is in full swing and they really start ti get the feeling they are playing with house money.
Game 7 is a toss up...the pressure shifts equally back to the Sens finally...but the Habs face the historical type of pressure should it reach there...
I am not saying...
The Sens are going to pull off the third miracle come back...I did pick the Habs in 5 after all....what I am saying is for this particular Sens team...returning to the underdog, lose a game and you are done scenario...could possibly suit them