Ottawa Senators

ShareThis This is the 13th playoff season for Chris Phillips as an Ottawa Senator. ShareThis

ShareThis No matter how good the Ottawa Senators feel about themselves after their 2-1, double-overtime win in Game 3, the odds remain decidedly against them. ShareThis

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ShareThis Senators vs Penguins Game 4 Live After an incredible last minute rally and a double overtime win, Ottawa meets Pittsburg again. Is this a turning of the tide for Ottawa? ShareThis

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Not a bad one-two punch for captain Daniel Alfredsson this weekend. He somehow ties Game Three short-handed as the final minute ticked off, setting up Ottawa’s double-overtime win on Sunday night, and Monday morning he’s announced as one of three finalists for Mark Messier’s Leadership Award.Not bad at all.And he'll probably take home that trophy from Messier, and not just because they both share #11 in common. Messier knows that Alfie doesn’t have much time left to win anything, and the time is now, seeing the kind of near-absurd adversity this Senators team had to go through and the fact they’re playing in the second round when nobody this side of hell gave them a chance.The other two nominees, Jonathan Toews and Dustin Brown are both deserving but neither had a job as monumental as Alfredsson’s. There’s also the cumulative effect of his whole career here, being the face of the franchise through bankruptcies, rebuilding, the Heatley and Yashin gong-shows as well as the good years where the Stanley Cup seemed within reach. Messier almost doesn’t have much choice but to give it to Alfie because any other decision would seem unusually cruel. Alfie has been through it all and is still coming up big when the time is right.Even though I’ve seen the kind of drama we all saw in Game Three played out many times before, I wasn’t getting ready for overtime. As the minutes bled away in the third and that Penguins 1-0 lead feeling more like a 3-0 deficit, it became a sort of “drink your beers now because we’re all going home in 5 minutes” mentality. It just looked and felt like Ottawa’s season was winding down thanks to their one major weakness – an inabiliy to score goals. It’s been a bigger hassle than their all their injuries - and definitely related.And then that Erik Karlsson penalty came with just under two minutes to go and you could hear the drunks singing “Good Night Irene” all the way from Renfrew. Luckily all Alfie could focus on was getting the puck into the Penguins end at least one more time and going to the net. The result was pretty stunning. The bolts rattled in the girders of the rink while all across Ottawa people threw out their backs jumping off couches and bar stools. Pets were permanently traumatized by the sudden screaming and toppling of coffee tables. Yet nobody was really surprised it was Alfie raising his stick. That sort of thing just seems to follow him around.One of the great things about Alfredsson being so clutch is that it gives opportunities to other players to do the same. If Alfredsson doesn’t tie that game up, there’s no double-OT Colin Greening goal and that guy doesn’t get to experience that same feeling and all the confidence and glory that comes with it. Craig Anderson gets to walk away from that game with a much needed boost of confidence after a rough Game Two. He earned it himself but he can’t score the goals. A one-goal loss would have been painful for Anderson after everything he’s done for this team. Jason Spezza gets to feel like he made a positive contribution after being away so long. The one thing a guy coming back from a long layoff wants to see is his team win so nobody can say you were a hindrance. All of these positives just flow from Alfie’s last-minute goal. And it’s not just Greening, Anderson and Spezza. It’s everyone watching that on the bench. You don’t necessarily need to play on the same line to make the players around you better. When you do your job, it gives everyone else an opportunity to excel at theirs.Even if Ottawa never wins another game in this series, the young guys probably learned a hell of a lot about the NHL playoffs from that one Alfredsson goal. All it takes is one play to turn things around. You can’t quantify that with stats or analysis of systems. It comes down to character in the end, like so many things do in hockey at this time of year. That’s an old cliché but it’s a cliché because it’s always been true.Down 2-1 in the series with at least one more g

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After losing the first 2 games in Pittsburgh, the Sens returned home for game 3. The crowd was in good spirits still because let's face it, they're the Penguins and we're a 7th seed in over our pesky heads. But skill doesn't always beat heart, and game 3 was a classic example of that. I went to the game being content at the thought of being competitive for the full sixty this time. But what happened has no words. It was simply and all time Senators classic. People will be asking where you were during this game in years to come. I will be fortunate enough to say I was there. Here's game 3 through my eyes.Milan Michalek was on the ticket for game 3, which is usually a good sign. For whatever reason, I find the player who's on the ticket that night generally has a good game. I can definitely say that MM9 played his best game of the playoff in game 3. So maybe there is something to it it after all.Game 3 was on Sunday night of a long weekend. People were out in full force pre partying at SBP. They even had a weird "beach" area from Molson Canadian. As you can see it was extremely popular by the empty chairs lol.Matt Cooke dunk tank at the red zone. No word on if the CSI were there collecting evidence or not.This guy went all out. He was hoping to see some goals. And while the Sens kept up their M.O. as a low scoring team, the goals they did score more than made up for it.Craig Anderson was on the towels. He didn't have a performance in game 2, and when Lehner came in and played well, some were saying Andy should shit. I thought this was crazy. So did the coaches. Andy showed them what he's made of in game 3.And the Sens come out for warmup to a thunderous reaction. The fans have been great all playoffs so far and tonight was no exception.And the moment we were all waiting for, as #19 came out for warmup. He came out last, which I'm sure was on purpose. I was just pumped to see him back on the ice for the first time in almost 4 months. If we have any chance this series, we need him to be playing. He got a very nice reception when he stepped on the ice. It was good to see.As soon as Spezza went to one knee, EK65 made it a point to go over and talk to him. About what? I can't be certain. But in my head he said something like "go get him champ" or "have a good game slugger". Either way it was a nice moment of leadership by the kid I thought.Indeed sign maker. Indeed.Jason Spezza at centre ice on the Sens logo. Just kinda seems right doesn't it? You don't know what you got til it's gone.Pre game and the giant new scoreboard went all Matrix on us. I was worried for a second that it might delay the game or something. But that wasn't the case. Still, I thought this shot was kinda cool.I checked and re-checked. The math is correct.The players come out. SBP goes crazy and who could blame them? We've had great teams in the past, but they failed to live up to expectations. This is a team you can be proud of. They never ever quit.Andy came out and look extremely focused. he definitely had his game face on and wanted to make up for a poor game 2. You could just see it in his facial expressions.Anthem time and the crowd was fired up. They were singing every note passionately. There's few things that get Canadians more patriotic than hockey.And we're underway with the opening faceoff. Kyle Turris vs Sidney Crosby. I was a bit worried at the start, as the Sens have a tendency to start games slow and that's what happened. The first 4 or 5 minutes, Pittsburgh was all over us again. But thanks to Andy, who made several spectacular saves, we were still tied.At a commercial break, they gave some props to Paul MacLean for his 2nd consecutive Jack Adams nod. Pretty impressive stuff. Also note the penalty on the board. This would become a theme. The reffing was truly awful, almost entirely in Pittsburgh's favor of course.Andy and the PK did a great job keeping it scoreless while shorthanded. The Pens PP is ridiculous and keeping them quiet is the key to t

ShareThis Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson was back at the scene of the Sunday euphoria late Monday morning, talking about how it took determination, focus, nerves of steel and a healthy share of good luck to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in double overtime. ShareThis

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