OTTAWA — The concern came from far and wide when Clarke MacArthur missed half of Game 5 with a lower-body injury. Even singer Tom Cochrane, a friend from charity golf events, texted to see if it was serious.
“I know we’ve got a good following,” MacArthur said Sunday morning.
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The Ottawa Senators top-line winger was unequivocal when asked if he would return for Game 6 against the Montreal Canadiens: He’s back.
Of course, this being the playoffs, that doesn’t mean that he’s fully healthy. But MacArthur — one of Ottawa’s most effective players in this series — received treatment on the off-day and felt good enough to play through a suspected groin injury.
“During the game I left things weren’t looking great,” he said. “The staff did some good work and a magic potion here or two, and I’m ready to go.”
That was good news for the Senators, who had an offensive explosion in Friday’s 5-1 win, but were expecting a better game from Carey Price and the Habs at Canadian Tire Centre.
It’s going to take another win from Ottawa to extend this series to a seventh game on Tuesday night.
“They’re going to push back,” said defenceman Patrick Wiercioch. “They were a good team all year. We’ve been scraping out wins just to make it to this point but when they’re consistently good there’s a reason that they don’t probably lose three in a row or four in a row.”
The biggest turning point in this series for the Senators came when Craig Anderson replaced Andrew Hammond for Game 3. He’s stopped 120 of 123 shots since and given the team a chance to completely erase a 3-0 series deficit.
Montreal winger P.A. Parenteau, who will return to the lineup on Sunday for the first time since Game 1, believes the Sens have had success because of “borderline” obstruction plays that have limited the ability of their forwards to generate speed on the forecheck.
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We have to fight through that and skate more,” said Parenteau. “We had success during the regular season when our forecheck was excellent, and that’s what’s not working right now.”
Senators coach Dave Cameron wasn’t anticipating any lineup changes with MacArthur healthy enough to play. The message coming out of the dressing room after the morning skate was fairly consistent — they need to win another game to extend the season.
“We’re playing like it’s our last game again,” said MacArthur. “No one wants to go home yet.”
