In order to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Ottawa Senators have to play a near-perfect game. For the second time in two tries, they didn't, and it resulted in them being on the wrong end of the scoreboard yet again.
Once again this w...
In order to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Ottawa Senators have to play a near-perfect game. For the second time in two tries, they didn't, and it resulted in them being on the wrong end of the scoreboard yet again.
Once again this was a game that left you saying, "If the Senators could just be a little better, they could beat the Penguins."
The problem is that they have to be a little better everywhere at the same time, because their opponents are just too talented to give them easy opportunities, and that's what the team keeps doing. Last game, despite good 5-on-5 play, the penalty-killing unit and power play unit didn't come through and the team lost. This game, despite good efforts from the penalty-killing and power play units, goaltending didn't come through and the team lost.
Sens Zero: Craig Anderson
Anderson easily had his worst game of the year for the Sens, and it came at exactly the wrong time. This was a game where the Senators desperately needed Anderson to give them a chance to win, because they almost played well enough to win. But Anderson instead acted as thinly-veiled Sens Killer Sidney Crosby's personal shooting target, as Crosby lit up Anderson for a hat trick. Anderson lasted just 21:05 in this game, and he wasn't pulled because the team needed a spark--he was pulled because he was off. The Senators made the playoffs on the strength of their goaltending, and to have it falter--not just regress, but falter--at this point is terribly frustrating.
Of course, it doesn't help that the player who tore Anderson up is Crosby, who happens to be the best player in the world. Anderson misjudged how quickly he could close his five-hole against the speed of Crosby's shot on the first goal, and that obviously stuck with him for the second shot, where he tried to anticipate what Crosby would do instead of just playing the shooter. Cheating away from the near post, expecting a pass, Anderson instead invited Crosby to shoot. The third goal was simply a rocket that no goalie would have a realistic chance of stopping. But at that point, the damage was done and Anderson had to go.
Sens Hero: Robin Lehner
Both Lehner and Anderson faced 21 shots. Anderson stopped 18, Lehner 20. Lehner threw out a huge save early in the second on Jarome Iginla, and it really seemed to give the Senators momentum. Lehner was everything Anderson wasn't: Calm. composed, efficient. It's no surprise the Senators were able to claw back within one goal. It's like confidence matters or something. Still, Anderson is the goalie that will start game 3, and there shouldn't even be a debate about that. The good news is that Lehner proved yet again that he's going to give the Senators an outstanding chance to win the games he starts next year. The Senators have two starters.
Sens Killer: Sidney Crosby
Held pointless in game one, Crosby single-handedly destroyed the Senators tonight. His destruction of Anderson has already been documented, but he simply toyed with thinly-veiled Sens Zero Erik Karlsson throughout the night. Evgeni Malkin picked up the slack in game one, and then Crosby does all the damage in game two. How is that fair? Who can shut both guys down?
Sens Hero: Special Teams
Though the Senators only got two power plays and gave up six--more on that later--the units that were ineffective in the first game of the series had a major rebound in this one. The power play unit took care of business, scoring a goal by winning a faceoff cleanly, moving the puck quickly, and taking a shot before Tomas Vokoun got set. Goal. And though the penalty-killers gave up a goal--the Crosby rocket--holding them to one in six attempts is no joke. The Penguins had been operating at 36% in the playoffs, and were held to 17% on the night. You simply can't ask for more than that against this unit.
Sens Hero: Colin Greening
Greening scored a goal and almost had another, but for an outstanding toe save by Vokoun. Greening likely would have notched an assist on