“A lot of times you’ve got to just be comfortable being uncomfortable.” ~ Jordan Martinook
RALEIGH, NC — In a closely contested game between two of the best defensively structured teams in the NHL, patience is paramount.
Waiting for the opposition to make a mistake to opportunistically counter it can be a challenge.
“We've done a very good job this year and throughout our playoff career of taking what's given to us and trying to limit them as much as we can, and then turn it into offence on our end,” Martinook said while describing how to deal with the frustrations of playing in tightly checked games.
For the Ottawa Senators, they did not look comfortable being uncomfortable.
“I think in the first two periods, we were a little nervous and didn't execute on our plays, on our passing,” Tim Stutzle stated from the team hotel yesterday. “We still had some decent looks, but they sold out. They were blocking a lot of shots, and their goaltender was obviously great.”
The key for the Senators in game two will be cleaner breakouts, and that starts with better execution from their defencemen. To alleviate that burden, it will be the Senators’ forwards' responsibility to support them.
“They're man on man everywhere, so everyone’s got a guy on them,” explained Drake Batherson. “If we have to rim some pucks, we've got to own those on the wall and make sure we're getting pucks out. Then, we’re generating a forecheck that way. It's going to be hard, no matter what we do. It's going to be a grind, and we’re trying to stick to it.”
If the Senators can move the puck efficiently from the defensive zone into the neutral zone, it will open up the game for them, especially in the offensive zone.
“We have got to find ways to hold on to the pucks more,” Batherson explained. “Challenge some guys, put some guys on our backs in the o-zone, and try to create some space that way, by beating a guy and then taking it to the net. It should open a few things up and generate some more o-zone time.
“Obviously, we only spent like two and a half minutes in their end. By getting more pucks to the net and recovering those pucks, it will lead to more space and them getting tired.”
The Senators have been good all year at bouncing back from games in which some of their execution was not at its best.
“That's what we've done all year,” Thomas Chabot said through a smile. “We hold each other accountable, and we know there are a lot of guys in this room that want to do better and play better. We're going to bring it (tonight). It's a hell of a hockey team that we play. They finished first for a reason, but at the end of the day, we know we can compete with anybody, and that's where we want to show them.”
It will not be easy for the Senators, especially if Artem Zub is unable to play.
Head coach Travis Green indicated that Zub would be a game-time decision tonight, but if he cannot go, Nik Matinpalo will take his place on the top pairing with Jake Sanderson, with Lassi Thomson making his NHL playoff debut on the third pairing with Dennis Gilbert.
It is worth noting that Tyler Kleven took part in the morning skate, ditching the non-contact jersey he wore on Friday morning at Senators practice. Despite the change, Kleven has been ruled out for tonight’s game. He stayed out with the black aces group following practice to get in more work. The big defenceman has been wearing a jaw protector on his helmet for the past few on-ice workouts, but it is not surprising to see him remain out of the lineup.
At one point during Friday’s practice before leaving for Carolina, Kleven took an inadvertent Brady Tkachuk stick to the left side of his helmet during a drill. Kleven stopped, visibly in pain from the contact. Going from that to a physical series in which 96 hits were thrown in game one needs significant progression.
Speaking of that physicality, the Carolina Hurricanes brought that in spades in Saturday’s game one.
“The physicality in the playoffs gets ramped up,” Martinook clarified. “You look at every single game, there's just more hitting in the playoffs because everybody knows, the more you can wear a team down, it's going to be harder as the series goes on.
“Every year, we try to bring that element. We have got guys that can play physical in here, and even our guys that are, you look at (Seth Jarvis), he probably was top three on our team and hits this year. So we’ve got some guys that can do that. It's all about trying to wear the other team down.”