OTTAWA – Guy Boucher is going to have a tougher time convincing anyone his team is the underdog now.
Erik Karlsson made sure the Senators didn’t waste a strong performance, scoring from the corner on a previously rock-solid Henrik Lundqvist with less than five minutes to play to give Ottawa a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday.
It was the first goal of the playoffs for the Ottawa captain, who had a dominant first round against Boston despite playing with two hairline fractures in his left foot.
The Senators did everything they could to embrace the underdog’s spirit in the four days between series – with Boucher claiming: “Well, from what I hear from everybody, we don’t seem to have much of a chance” – but they played with the urgency of a favourite in Game 1.
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However, the biggest difference-maker in a Rangers sweater planted a seed of doubt here early.
Lundqvist sprawled out across his crease to somehow deny Mark Stone from the edge of the crease – one of eight stops he made on a Senators power play in the opening 10 minutes. The King was locked in, later stopping Viktor Stalberg then Zack Smith on a short-handed rush, and finished with 21 saves in a period for the first time in his playoff career.
Craig Anderson had to hold up his end of the bargain, as well, staring down Michael Grabner and Ryan McDonagh on breakaways.
It looked like Ottawa might come to regret its inability to cash in with the man advantage, especially after Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh scored on a power play at 7:10 of the second period.
But Ryan Dzingel tied it before the intermission by corralling a bouncing puck and lifting it over Lundqvist and defenceman Marc Staal at 18:39.
Ottawa cracked the 40-shot barrier for the second time in these playoffs during the third period – Lundqvist got his glove on a Dzingel slapshot to keep it 1-1 – before Karlsson broke through with the late winner.
“If we’re not at our best we don’t have a chance,” Boucher said before puck drop. “We understand that and so we have to put our ‘A’ game on the ice.”
So far, so good.