Failing to contain Pittsburgh’s attack made the Senators pay in a 3-2 loss in Game 4 at home, as they were outshot for the second time in the series, 35-26. And that’s despite having four power play opportunities in the game against Pittsburgh’s two.
Ottawa like to deliberately slow down the pace of the game with some “boring” defensive schemes, which caters to its wait-and-counter-attack approach in the playoffs but the Sens will have to ramp up their offensive activity, particularly on the man advantage. The Senators have been scoreless in their last 25 power play chances.
The Penguins were just 20th back in the regular season in penalty killing so Ottawa should be able to expose some of Pittsburgh’s defensive defects in shorthanded situations.
Craig Anderson will try to bounce back after allowing all of Pittsburgh’s goals in Game 3. He’s a road warrior, owning a 2.02 goals against average and a .927 save percentage away from Ottawa these playoffs. Ottawa is 6-4 in Anderson’s last 10 road starts.
Is Pittsburgh’s offense back? You could say so after the Pens scored as many goals in Game 4 as their total output the first three games with a 3-2 win in Ottawa.
Oli Maata opened the scoring for the Penguins followed by a Sidney Crosby power play score and an even-strength goal by Brian Dumoulin. As opposed to the Senators’ anemic power play, the Penguins have punked Ottawa on the man advantage the last two games in which they scored twice on five chances. The Penguins are always going to be a dangerous team on offense and the show they put up in Game 4 serves as a nice springboard heading into Game 5 at home.
Speaking about things that have returned, Matt Murray has seemingly regained his starting gig after Marc-Andre Fleury’s whack job in Game 3. Murray stopped made 24 saves on 26 shots faced in Game 4 to earn his first win this postseason. The Penguins are 7-3 in Murray’s last 10 home starts.
