Senators Notebook: Confidence abounds for long-awaited playoff homecoming

OTTAWA — It’s finally here. 

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have returned to the nation’s capital.

The 2,893-day wait for a home playoff game in Ottawa felt like an eternity for the Senators fan base, and for their captain.

“It’s been a dream of mine ever since I stepped foot in Ottawa to see the white rally towels in the Canadian Tire Centre,” said Brady Tkachuk.

The game marks a new dawn for the franchise — yet Thursday could be bittersweet for long-suffering supporters, especially if the Toronto Maple Leafs take a 3-0 series lead in an arena full of blue and white.

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In that way, the playoffs can be cruel.

And the newbie Senators, who have carried play for large stretches of the first two games but are coming home empty handed, have already experienced some of that.

Nevertheless, the group full of tenacious wide-eyed youngsters still feels confident.

“After Game 2, (we) feel great,” said Tkachuk. “Plenty of teams have come back being down 0-2.

“(We) never want to take an easy road in anything in life. So I’m glad that there’s a hard road in front of us, and it’s really going to set (our) character apart. (Because) we will be able to handle that adversity and be better because of it.”

What makes this Senators team confident?

Well, a similar situation played out just two years ago when the New Jersey Devils, led by youngsters like Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, lost their first two games (at home) but rallied to beat the New York Rangers in Game 7.

So it’s been done before. And the Senators are right to feel they can do it again.

At 5-on-5, the Senators have held their own against the Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile, Auston Matthews hasn’t scored yet in this series.

Like many Senators fans surely did just while reading that sentence, head coach Travis Green knocked on wood when it was brought up at morning skate.

“If you’re not standing on the other bench, you like watching (Matthews). But it’s hard to keep good players quiet,” Green said.

Expect Shane Pinto to be glued to Matthews throughout Game 3 with Ottawa having the last change as the home team.

“I think we played pretty well against the Matthews-Marner line, and didn’t really give them a whole lot of 5-on-5, and created our own chances,” Tim Stützle said.

Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne recently wrote a fantastic story explaining that some of Ottawa’s 5-on-5 success has been due to score effects — depending on the score, a team will likely be either more aggressive to make up a deficit or more defensive to protect a lead.

The latter has been the case for Toronto, which sat back after gaining 2-0 leads in each of the first two games of the series.

That means the first goal of Game 3 will be key.

“Even though we fell behind 2-0,” said Green, “we weren’t getting outplayed drastically or anything like that. And in this game, like I’ve said it many times, you can play well and be behind.” 

Ottawa had a 35-6 record when scoring first this season, including a 21-1 mark at home.

Both Ottawa and Toronto placed among the top five in winning percentage in one-goal games. Get to the playoffs and that’s almost every game, placing an even larger onus on scoring first.

“I mean, we don’t mind winning games 2-1 or 1-0,” Stutzle said.

In an effort to inject some offensive life into his team, it appears Green will have Fabian Zetterlund up with Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson on the second line. David Perron, the regular winger there, shifts down to the fourth line.

The line with Zetterlund was put together late in Game 2 and was on the ice for the Max Domi overtime goal.

Batherson took ownership for the play after it was his errant pass that led to the Maple Leafs’ winner. He was visibly shaken while talking to the media on Wednesday.

“(The OT winner)’s probably a lot on me, to be honest with you,” he said. “But like I said, live and learn. Learn the hard way, but the best thing you do is come out tomorrow and try to make a difference.”

His coach took him aside after Game 2 to offer some encouragement.

“Wanted to make sure he doesn’t dwell on it,” Green said.

Meanwhile, Batherson’s new linemate Zetterlund brings speed that wily veteran Perron doesn’t.

“I think as the series goes on, players that have quickness (are) beneficial,” Green said.

Not only does Zetterlund bring pace, but he has a shot that’s earned him 43 goals in the last two seasons.

“(In) playoff hockey, it’s harder to score, but we got to get in front of the goalie a little bit more and be around the net more and get the shots through,” Zetterlund said.

That’s been Ottawa’s issue so far — getting shots on net from high-quality areas.

Four goals in two games won’t cut it.

Still, Ottawa hopes to wear down Toronto physically.

“You can see, as the series goes on, both teams are going to get a little tired from the physicality,” said Green.

Ottawa holds the best ratio of hits given versus taken in the playoffs at 64.3 per cent. A player like Zetterlund, who had 154 hits this season, helps inflict more wounds on the Maple Leafs.

“I feel like everyone is finishing the hits,” Zetterlund said with a glimmer in his eye. “And sometimes it’s nice to take a big hit, to engage in the game right away. I like that style of (physical) play.”

The longer the series continues, the more the wounds dig into the Maple Leafs. That will have to be part of Ottawa’s recipe for success if it wants to win Game 3 — and, eventually, come back in the series.

Ullmark focused on results

In this series, Ottawa has employed the second-best goaltender with Anthony Stolarz outdueling Linus Ullmark.

Ullmark’s .800 save percentage and 4.39 goals-against average are numbers that could sink Ottawa into a sweep, even if many of the goals have been breakaways or deflections.

Nevertheless, Ullmark had an interesting answer when asked how’d he assess his play.

“Well, results haven’t gone the way that we wanted to obviously, but nothing to do about it now,” he said. “You can lose a game 6-2, or you can win a game 1-0, doesn’t matter. It’s all about taking the next step and focusing on the next one.”

Senators fans conundrum

There is a significant likelihood that the Canadian Tire Centre will be infiltrated by Leafs fans for Game 3, as it is during regular-season Battle of Ontario tilts. But the question is: what’s the ratio of Sens to Leafs fans?

The Senators organization has gone out of its way to ensure the crowd is red — not blue.

We will find out tonight. 

Projected lines

Tkachuk-Stutzle-Giroux
Zetterlund-Cozens-Batherson
Highmore*-Pinto-Amadio
Cousins-Gaudette-Perron

Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Hamonic
Kleven-Matinpalo

Ullmark

*Greig and Jensen missed morning skate but are expected to play tonight.

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