The Confluence
A look at the Ottawa Senators
by Tony on 04/12/10 at 04:12 PM ET
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The Penguins will face a familiar foe in the first round of the playoffs when they face the Ottawa Senators commencing Wednesday night at the Igloo, as the Penguins begin their defense of their Stanley Cup championship.
The young Penguins pretty much got their collective asses handed to them back in the ‘06-‘07 playoffs, with the Sens quickly disposing of the Pens in five games.
The Penguins turned the tables, speaking of disposing quickly, the next year, as they swept the Senators in Round One as they went on to the Stanley Cup Finals.
So now it’s onto the rubber match, so to speak. And it’s not a stretch to predict that this could be one very interesting series.
You can’t merely look at stats when it comes to the playoffs, there’s just too many intangibles to take into account. That said, here’s a quick glance at the Sens;
Offense - Ottawa’s offense must not be taken lightly, they are still simply too talented. The Sens certainly spread around their offense, with nine players scoring in double figures, four of those over 20 goals. Maybe somewhat surprisingly, the top scorer for the Sens is not captain Daniel Alfredsson nor Jason Spezza, but gritty center Mike Fisher with 25 goals. To be fair though, Fisher played in nine more games that Alfy and 19 more than Spezza. One of the key figures acquired in the Dany Heatley trade, Milan Michalek, scored 22 goals in 66 games as well. What could turn out to be a significant absence on the Sens’ scoring lines is former Penguin Alex Kovalev, who’s out for the playoffs with a torn ACL. Their checking lines are led, once again, by former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu and Chris Neil, who collectively stir the pot as well as any do in the NHL.
Defense - The Senators have the biggest defense in the NHL, with three of their regular defensemen standing over 6’4”, led by recent acquisition Andy Sutton, who’s 6’6”. Height aside, the Sens also have two of the best shutdown defenders in the league in Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov. Those two have done an excellent job in recent years against Sidney Crosby, and you can rest assured they’ll be following Crosby’s every move once again this series.
Goaltending - Brian Elliott has assumed the #1 spot over Pascal Leclaire for the Sens, and has been playing well recently, going 6-1-1 with two shutouts. That said, out of the four games the Pens and Sens played this season, Elliott was only the starting goaltender in the finale, beating the Pens 4-1 on Jan. 28th at the Igloo. He also got some relief work in the 8-2 Penguins’ blowout on Dec. 23rd, also in Pittsburgh. Statistically, Elliott is in the middle of the pack, with a 2.57 GAA (T-19th) and a .909 save pct. (T-24th).
Matchup(s) of the Series - Phillips and Volchenkov vs. Crosby - Let me give a hearty stick-tap to Adam Gretz of NHL Fanhouse for an excellent stat detailing how those two have fared against Crosby in the past two season’s regular season games at even strength. Click on that link, and you’ll see they’ve basically shut Crosby out. This won’t be a new strategy for the Sens, the Pens know it’s coming as well. Naturally, with the Pens getting last change at their home games, it’s imperative for Sid to generate as much offense as he can while those two are off the ice.
However, while Phillips and Volchenkov will do their best to keep Crosby off the scoresheet, that leads us to the second part of the equation, which is:
Evgeni Malkin vs. everyone else - If you’ve watched the past few Penguins games, you’ve seen an Evgeni Malkin that hasn’t been seen since, well, last season’s playoffs. He’s now skating with a determination that cannot be matched by very many players in the NHL. If Crosby continues to be held in check by Phillips and Volchenkov, it will be up to Malkin to pick up the slack against defensemen such as Andy Sutton and Matt Carkner.
Now, I could have went the easy route and just said the key matchup would be the two goaltenders, which will always be key, but shutting down Crosby, if it were to happen, would go a long ways as well.
Prediction? Not going to be a cakewalk by any means, but give me the Pens in five games. I think they’ll take both at the Igloo, one out of two in Ottawa, and close them out at home.
Filed in: Pittsburgh Penguins | The Confluence | Permalink
Tags: NHL-Hockey, Ottawa+Senators, Pittsburgh+Penguins,
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