Silver Nuggets: Chance for the Stranglehold

Fans of the Ottawa Senators have been walking around the last couple days with an extra jump in their step. And why shouldn't they? As the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference, they have taken a 2-1 lead in their series against the Northeast Division champion Montreal Canadiens.

And they took that lead by force on Sunday night, laying an absolute beat-down on the Habs that not only resulted in six goals sliding behind Carey Price, but also in a line brawl (where all five fights were won by the Senators) and in Paul MacLean continuing to dominate the mind game side of this series.

Needless to say, while the fans have been grinning and sauntering, I am glad to hear the players are being told not to. Word is Paul MacLean held a team meeting yesterday to tell his players that they have yet to accomplish anything. They may be up 2-1 in the series, but Montreal can regain home ice advantage by winning tonight and you can be sure that after being humiliated on Sunday night, the Habs will look to respond.

I for one, hope they "respond" by continuing to look like complete morons because as last game showed, they do not have the personnel to act that way. But they didn't win the division by a fluke, so the Senators need to be ready for a better game from Montreal.

The Senators, on the other hand, finally looked to skate for the first time Sunday night. They were flying, attacking and playing physical. That is the way they need to play if they want to have success against Montreal and they need to continue that play tonight. All year long the Senators were dynamite at home, and with the chance to put the Habs on the brink, they need to continue to apply the pressure they did Sunday night.

They won game one, which historically has been tough for the Senators. They won game three, which historically has been near impossible. Now, they need to show that they can kick a team while they are down, and take that 3-1 lead.

Sens Links

• Bobby breaks the bad news of the Bingo season ending, but highlights some of the standout performances on that team this year. [SSS]
• Ten interesting stats from the wild and crazy game three [Mendes]
• Habs fans "adopt a walrus" for Brandon Prust. Yes this is a real story. [Colonist]
• Quotes from both sides heading into game 4. Should be a wild one. [CBC]
• Some more quotes from the Senators side, downplaying the importance of Sunday's win. [SE]
• Eric Gryba has served his two game suspension for shooting a puck at a player no sorry, instigating a fight in the final five minutes wait I got this, punching a guy while he is on the ice no no, ummm elbowing a guy in the head as a repeat offender? Shit, here it is, for making Lars Eller bleed. Anyways, he is back and available. That should calm things down. [SE]
• Senators Legend Jean-Gabreil Pageau is still coming down off the high of his big game Sunday. I think we can probably exclude the possibility of a repeat performance tonight (please prove me wrong JGP), but there is no doubt he'll play a key role tonight. [SE]
• Sens are up 2-1 in the series and 200000000-0 in the mind game wars. [6thSens]
• Some hedging on the prediction panel BUT PETER SAYS WE WIN SO WE WIN. [PP]