OTTAWA — As recently as a couple weeks ago, this didn’t look like a game that would carry much meaning.
Back on March 12 the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoyed a 15-point lead over the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference standings and appeared to be well on their way to a playoff berth for the ninth straight season.
That advantage could be completely erased by the end of the night.
A win in regulation would place the Senators right alongside Pittsburgh at 95 points with two games remaining for each. It would also raise the possibility that a NHL powerhouse misses the post-season entirely.
“That’s the way hockey is,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said Tuesday morning at Canadian Tire Centre. “I don’t think there’s ever something that happens that surprises guys. I think just given the situation with how tight the teams are anything can happen.”
If nothing else, the Senators have certainly proven that during a wild two-month stretch.
Backed by unknown third-string goaltender Andrew Hammond — who sports a 17-1-2 record and picked up his third NHL player of the week award Monday — Ottawa has made this playoff race much more interesting than expected.
But the good feelings will dissipate if they fall short. Some of the players were still bemoaning Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs and believe they have to win out to get in the playoffs.
“It’s a shame to let one slip away in Toronto — it could have been a lot more interesting tonight — but nonetheless it’s a game we have to have just to keep the pressure on,” said forward Clarke MacArthur.
So narrow is the margin for error right now that some fans and reporters — not to mention Ottawa players — spent Monday reviewing a shot by Marc Methot that narrowly grazed by the outside of the post in overtime. There were questions about whether it might have went through the mesh.
Methot says he spent about an hour watching clips of the play and wasn’t even sure himself. He was happy to learn that Sportsnet and the league had found an alternate overhead angle that definitively showed the right call was made.
“I got a lot of text messages and stuff yesterday, and read a ton of stuff online,” said Methot. “There’s a big conspiracy going on. I’m glad they got to the bottom of it, so the fans can kind of rest easy now and just move on.”
While the Sens are focused on turning up the heat on Pittsburgh, they also trail Detroit and Boston by two points entering the evening. They don’t hold a tiebreaker on any of those teams and must find a way to get past one of them with games against the Rangers and Flyers still to be played before the end of the season.
Few believed they’d ever be playing meaningful games in the final week — “It’s hard to when you’re where we were,” said MacArthur — and are feeling confident after going 20-4-4 since mid-February.
“It’s a single-minded purpose,” said coach Dave Cameron. “I think what the winning has done more than anything, it’s shown them if they stick to it there’s a chance. … I think what that does, it allows your team to be calm, regardless if they fall behind or whatever.
“It just allows them to know that they’ve been down this road before and they found a way.”
This is completely unfamiliar territory for a Penguins team that has topped 100 points in six of the last seven full NHL seasons.
No one inside the organization thought the playoff chase would go down to the wire. The team didn’t even lottery protect the first-round pick it sent to Edmonton for David Perron on Jan. 2, which means there’s a minute chance it could become Connor McDavid.
Of course, a win in regulation on Tuesday night would put that topic of discussion to rest. Even though they’ve cut it close, there’s a chance to secure a playoff berth before leaving Ottawa.
“This is opportunity to make sure we get the job done,” said defenceman Paul Martin. “We’ve waited long enough.”
“I sense, at least with our group, there’s more excitement than pressure,” added coach Mike Johnston.
The Penguins have only three wins to show for their last 12 games and are missing defencemen Kris Letang (concussion) and Christian Ehrhoff (upper body) to injury. Johnston is hopeful that both could return for a playoff series starting next week.
Evgeni Malkin returned to the lineup Sunday in Philadelphia and should help an offence that has been struggling. The Penguins felt they deserved a better fate after outshooting the Flyers 47-20 in that one.
So with a lot of attention now being paid to the team’s increasingly precarious position, Crosby was preaching the need to just continue doing what they’ve been doing.
“It’s an exciting time of year,” he said. “We need to have our best here tonight.”
With five days left in the season and much still to be decided, the Sens know the feeling.
