The Pittsburgh Penguins were expected to march through the Eastern Conference Final and onto the Stanley Cup Final but a frustrating Ottawa Senators squad has other plans.
A decimated blue line, plus an inability to capitalize on their chances they way they did against the Capitals in the previous round, sees the Penguins in a hole heading into Friday’s contest and looking to avoid going down 3-1.
Here’s what to watch for in Game 4:
vs.
Game 4: 8 p.m. ET on CBC
Can the Penguins get to Anderson?
It’s not a stretch to say the Senators’ defensive style of play is less than appealing from an aesthetic point of view, but it has proven to be quite effective.
The team is well aware of what people are saying about it too.
Ottawa has managed to limit Pittsburgh’s scoring chances and Craig Anderson has come up large when needed. Anderson has allowed just one goal per game against the Pens and has a .963 save percentage. With one more win he’ll tie Patrick Lalime for the most playoff wins in franchise history.
Pens confident in whoever’s in the crease
The main mystery to emerge from Game 3 was whether we’d see Marc-Andre Fleury or Matt Murray in net going forward. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has done his best to remain diplomatic about the situation and, no surprise, has confidence in both players.
Will the Sens be able to get the power play going?
Heading into Game 3 the Sens were 0-for-17 with the man advantage in a seven-game stretch. Despite the 5-1 victory, they couldn’t bury one on special teams. They went 0-for-4 Wednesday, which means they’re now 0-for-21 in the past eight games.
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