OTTAWA – They are as unified as they come, this group of Ottawa Senators, and they are adopting a siege mentality ahead of a second-round series with the New York Rangers.
Never mind that only four points separated these teams in the regular season. Never mind that most betting houses have installed this series as a pick ’em, with some even giving Ottawa slightly favoured odds.
That’s not the way it felt out here in suburban Kanata as the Senators went through a final practice and prepared to host Game 1 at Canadian Tire Centre.
"Well, from what I hear from everybody, we don’t seem to have much of a chance," said coach Guy Boucher, when asked what kind of challenge the Rangers present. "We’re 10-to-1 in Vegas against us, and everybody seems to think that they’re going to roll all over us.
"So I guess they’re a pretty good team."
It was undoubtedly a little manipulation of the mind from a man who holds a Masters degree in sports psychology.
Enough players took conversations to the same place that it left you believing a similar refrain was being delivered behind closed doors as it was in both official languages from the coach’s podium.
When you step back and look at what’s transpired here this season, it’s little wonder why. The fact the Senators are one of eight teams still standing is a triumph of their will and commitment to stifling opponents using a frustrating defence-first approach.
"You’ve got to find an identity," said winger Bobby Ryan. "I’ve heard coach use the word ‘soul.’ You’ve got to find a heartbeat for yourselves and we did that."
They’ve been fuelled by the otherworldly play of Erik Karlsson, who still generated huge offensive numbers despite making a conscious choice to pay more mind to what happens in his own end. They’re getting strong goaltending from Craig Anderson.
And, at Boucher’s urging, they took way fewer chances on the offensive side of the puck – qualifying for the playoffs with a negative goal differential and the 22nd-best share of even-strength shot attempts, a metric that is valued more by other organizations than this one.
Along the way, the players built a belief that Boucher was giving them a style of play which would lead to success.
"He gave us the system in the early stages of training camp and we were hesitant, right?" said Ryan. "And you saw that through pre-season and you saw that in the early stages. Once we figured out how we were going to win and how we were going to be aggressive, and what areas we were going to be able to maintain offence while playing structurally sound, everything just came together.
"We saw that we were going to be able to reap the rewards in coach’s system by doing it right. We knew that maybe we don’t have the firepower of other teams and maybe we’re not as good at the run-and-gun game, we knew we had to maintain the structure."
They became comfortable playing tight-checking games. There may have been a few more goals scored than expected during a first-round matchup with Boston, but all six games ended up being decided by one goal.
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In the Rangers, Boucher sees a team that runs four lines deep and is above average at executing a breakout. Then there is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who carries a resume that speaks for itself.
"I think that’s a team that doesn’t have many flaws, if they do have any," said Boucher. "If we’re going to be able to beat those guys, it’s going to take a long time, it’s going to be extremely hard and our players have to have the right expectations. But they have it. Everybody’s telling them how much stronger the opponent is and everybody’s telling them how much we’re not supposed to be a match for those guys.
"Understanding how good the opponent is, (it’s) not a problem in that room; they know, they hear it enough."
On some level, they are rallying behind that ideal while attempting to reach the conference final for the first time in 10 years.
Boucher likes to keep his players’ minds in small places, focusing only on the opening 10 minutes of Thursday’s game and going from there. They possess an underdog’s spirit and have constructed an identity designed to withstand whatever is thrown at them.
"Defensively sound," said Ryan. "The Kanata Wall."
"I don’t know if I’ve ever been on a team where everyone’s pulling on the same thread the way we are," he added.
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