Ottawa drew first blood in the series with a 2-1 overtime in Game 1 against Pittsburgh and the Senators will look to go up 2-0 tonight before flying back home for Game 3.
It’s good news for the Senators that Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s stick is still smoking after dealing heavy damage on the New York Rangers in the second round. The 24-year-old center scored the first goal of the Eastern Conference finals and set up Bobby Ryan’s game-winning goal in overtime. Pageau currently leads the Senators this postseason in goals (8) while Ryan is second in points (11).
Perhaps even better for the Senators was the performance of Craig Anderson in front of the net in Game 1. Anderson turned away 27 of 28 shots from Pittsburgh. That strong outing should give the netminder a boost in confidence, as he prepares for a big fightback from the Penguins’ lethal scorers. Anderson is 9-4 with a 2.37 GAA and .917 SV% in 13 starts so far these playoffs.
The Penguins could use some advice from Michael Scott Wayne Gretzky after their Game 1 loss. After getting outshot in each game in the second round against the Washington Capitals, the Penguins lost the possession battle anew in Game 1 of the conference finals, shooting 28 shots against Ottawa’s 35.
Pittsburgh is currently last among all playoff teams in Corsi on 5-on-5 situations. (The Pens only had 17 even-strength shots in Game 1).Coach Mike Sullivan is fully aware of this, which was why he’s openly calling for his team to take more shots. The lack of shots though hasn’t stopped the Penguins from topping the playoffs in goals with 3.23 per game.
Marc-Andre Fleury, meanwhile, is expected to start Game 2 even though Matt Murray is already 100 percent healthy. Fleury is 8-5 with a 2.49 GAA and .928 SV% in 13 starts this postseason.
