OTTAWA — There’s a different feeling around the Ottawa Senators these days, among this team that’s faced a lot of adversity this season, in the locker-room where a sign hanging over the door says: “Relentless!”
As centreman Zack Smith put it, after an off-day skate ahead of the team’s playoff opener against Boston: “It’s strange.”
He means strange in a good way, though.
Not only are the Senators back in the post-season after missing the playoffs last year — they’ll open their series against the visiting Bruins on Wednesday at Canadian Tire Centre — but they’re also feeling pretty healthy for the first time in quite some time.
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“It kinda felt like camp out there,” Smith said of Tuesday’s practice, grinning. “We had a lot of bodies, a lot of healthy players. It’s nice to see — it’s very timely…. It’s definitely a positive sign for us.”
The Senators dealt with a rash of injuries near the end of the regular season. Captain Erik Karlsson was out with two separate foot injuries, Smith missed the last six games with an upper-body ailment, Bobby Ryan and Chris Neil were both on the shelf for extended periods, and defenceman Cody Ceci missed time earlier this month with a lower-body injury. All of them are back.
Asked whether he was feeling 100 per cent, Karlsson’s response was a quick “close enough.”
“There’s not gonna be any problems there,” he added.
The lone question mark surrounds veteran defenceman Marc Methot, whose left pinky finger was severed on March 23 after a vicious Sidney Crosby slash. Methot was back on the ice Tuesday, with the pinky and ring finger taped together, and he’s hopeful he’ll get in the lineup early in this series.
“It was severed, so I was missing it,” Methot said, of the pinky. “It is what it is and it’s time for me to move on and try to get healthy.”
He has had other major injuries in his career, including a broken jaw, but nothing as painful as this. “There’s a lot of nerves in there,” said Methot, who’s from Ottawa. “It was pretty rough for a little while.”
The 31-year-old said he and Crosby were exchanging words after the slash when he felt “something moving around in the glove.” He took off his glove, he said, “and I see it and it’s hanging off a little bit of skin.”
“It’s just a finger and I understand that there’s far worse out there that happens to people and whatnot, but it’s not something you expect to happen when you’re playing a sport.”
No, it’s not. And Methot is sick of hearing about it and talking about it, too. The focus now is on getting back in the lineup.
“I’m pumped,” Methot said. “I’m doing everything I can now to get back to full strength and feel good so that I can be effective for this team. We’re all real proud of what we did manage to do so far this season and now it’s time to build on that and make a little noise.”
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The Senators, the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division, finished with a 44-28-10 record compared to Boston’s 44-31-7. In the regular season, Ottawa won all four meetings between the two teams, and they’re 6-0 against the Bruins extending back to last season.
But none of that really matters now. Ottawa has advanced past the first round just once in the last nine years, and they’re up against a Boston roster that has holdovers from the Stanley Cup championship team in 2011 and the team that made the final in 2013.
“I think it’s going to be completely different when we play them [on Wednesday] — it’s going to be a different game, different teams,” Karlsson said. “I don’t really think that it really matters that much what you did in the regular season.
“They’re a good team and we know that.”
Of the four head-to-head matchups this season, one was decided by a shootout, another by a single goal, and the other two by a pair.
“They were tight games,” said forward Mark Stone, who had 54 points in 71 games this season. “We never blew them out in the four games…
“It’s very little minor things that got us through those wins. Those are things that we need to continue to execute in the games going forward.”
“It’s a chance to rekindle a rivalry, I think,” Smith added. “We’ve had some pretty good games against them. They’re a big, physical team. We can play that game just as well as anyone, too. It’s an exciting matchup.”
While the Senators will see a bunch of players return to the lineup — some back from injury, others having taken a rest in the last regular-season game of the year — the Bruins will see the return of star forward Brad Marchand, who was suspended the last two games of the season for a spear on Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Jake Dotchin. Marchand had 85 points (39 goals, 46 assists) this season.
During their Cup run in 2011, Marchand had 19 points in 25 games. The 28-year-old is coming off a career season, despite the brutal ending in the press box.
“We know they have a lot of playoff experience and they’ve got some winners over there so I think it’s a team that we’re certainly preparing heavily for,” Methot said. “We know that it’ll be a heavy game on the boards and the walls and around the net. They’ve got some deadly weapons up front, they can score goals and create offence so it’s gonna be a good challenge for us and we’re looking forward to it.”
The Senators have dealt with a lot this season. Goaltender Craig Anderson took a leave of absence after his wife, Nicholle, was diagnosed with cancer. Methot’s finger was shattered. They lost their captain and leading scorer for a few games late in the year.
“Every team goes through adversity, and every team gets injuries and things going around in your personal life, and I think we’ve had a lot of that this year in this organization,” said Karlsson. “We know things can happen on short notice and as of right now, everybody’s back and feeling good, and that’s what we’re gonna focus on.”
Added Stone: “I’m ready. I think everyone’s ready.”
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