It wasn't a particularly well played game by either side, but when the final buzzer went at Madison Square Garden the Ottawa Senators and their fans couldn't be happier with the 3-0 victory.
Combine that with some help from Roberto Luongo and the Florida Panthers by beating the Boston Bruins about 10 minutes later, and the Senators will play their 82nd and final game of the season with their playoff destiny in their own hands. No more help is needed, as long as the Senators bring at least a point home from Philadelphia. Boston's loss means that the Islanders and Red Wings each clinched a playoff spot, so one of Ottawa, Boston and Pittsburgh will be on the outside looking in come Sunday morning.
The Senators were carried (surprise, surprise) by the line of Kyle Turris, Mark Stone an Clarke MacArthur, who were able to count twice in a span of just over a minute late in the second period to break open a scoreless tie, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau iced it with the empty netter in the final two minutes.
It was a sloppy effort at times by both teams, with the Rangers sitting Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and Marc Staal to give them a rest with their spot at the top of the league standings secured.
It was nice that they could get this one done in regulation, because the 5 straight OT/SO results was getting a little intense. A year after having just one Canadian based team in the playoffs, the Senators could become the 5th Canadian team to qualify, with both Calgary and Winnipeg clinching Thursday night, joining the Habs and Canucks who had already punched their ticket to the dance.
The game didn't look like it was going to go the Senators' way early on, with an apparent goal from Patrick Wiercioch waved off due to goaltender interference by Mika Zibanejad on Henrik Lundqvist. While it didn't end up costing them in the long run, it was a questionable call at best, with the contact happening at the very edge of the crease while Zibanejad was in a battle with the Rangers defenseman. Depending on your point of view it was incidental contact that should not have resulted in the goal being waived off let alone also being called a penalty, or it was running the goalie and Zibanejad got what he deserved. Either way, Lundqvist staying down for a time was a factor in the penalty being called after the fact, because after waving off the goal the official clearly said the faceoff would go outside the zone, but when they came back from the TV timeout, Zibanejad was in the box and the Sens were in their own zone on the PK.
There is still a lot of concern over the lack of production of the second line. Bobby Ryan has just 1 assist, Hoffman 1 goal and 1 assist, and Zibanejad 1 goal and 2 assists in their last 9 games. While some have called for moving Bobby Ryan down in the lineup, there is no faulting his effort on the ice. They just simply aren't scoring right now, and there would be no better time for Ryan to break out of the slump than Saturday when he visits what is basically his home town.
Andrew Hammond ran his record to 19-1-2 as the Senators starter, and can notch his improbable 20th win on Saturday. He is 4 wins ahead of Craig Anderson and just 5 behind the combined wins of Anderson and Robin Lehner this season, and his 3rd shutout matched Anderson for the team lead. Not a bad 1/4 season's work.
If the playoffs started today, which obviously they don't, the first round would see the Senators match up against the Habs, which is a scenario the Senators are drooling over and quite honestly Montreal fans want nothing to do with.
There is still one more piece of business to take care of, and lots of scenarios still to be played out on where they finish, but it would make for a much less tense Saturday night if the Sens can get their point on Saturday afternoon and not have to scoreboard watch to see if they make it, but just to see who they will play in round 1.
Destiny in your own hands for Game 82...just what the doctor ordered.