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Senators headed in the right direction

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BOSTON

The Ottawa Senators were all smiles Sunday.

Why not? The picture looks pretty good for the Senators at the moment.

As the Eastern quarterfinal against the Bruins moves to the TD Garden for Game 3 on Monday night and Game 4 on Wednesday tied 1-1, the Senators know if they can pick up where they left in a thrilling 4-3 OT victory Saturday afternoon at home, then they’ve got a chance to be in good shape for Game 5 on Friday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

No, the Senators weren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination in Game 2 when they erased a two-goal deficit to help set up defenceman Dion Phaneuf’s game-winning goal, but they took steps in the right direction and the message from coach Guy Boucher on Sunday was that there are still areas the club needs to work on.

Only a handful of players went on the ice after a team meeting and video session at Boston’s practice facility in the nearby suburb Brighton, Mass.

“Keep growing,” Boucher said when asked what he told the players Sunday. “It’s been the same since Day 1, since training camp, and get better every day. Every playoff I’ve been involved in, if you’ve got a team that’s evolving, you’ve got a better chance so you want to focus on a few things that we want to clean up or keep.

“In that second period, we gave the (Bruins) stuff that we don’t normally give and it wasn’t a lack of effort, it was a tremendous effort, it just wasn’t necessarily a smart effort in the second so we want to make sure that we have a better mix. The first game we were tentative in the third period and (Saturday) we were too aggressive in the second period. There’s a balance we can and that’s when we’re at our best.”

The Senators know they’ve won nothing yet and there’s lots of work to be done if they’re going to win this series.

“We just have to stick with it and not get too high,” winger Zack Smith said. “We’ve got a few more games to go here. We’re back in Boston and it’s going to be a little different atmosphere.

“They’re going to come out hard in their building. If we’re close to matching our first periods in the first two games, I think we’ll be able to settle down pretty well.”

The first two games have served notice to the Senators that if they thought the Bruins were going to back down because they’re now without four of their blueliners — Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo, Colin Miller and Adam McQuaid, who left Saturday — then Ottawa players can certainly erase any of those thoughts from their minds.

The Bruins have battled tooth and nail to overcome the injuries which is why the Senators understand they have to do a better job for 60 minutes.

“They’ve been doing a heck of a job with the injuries they have. They’re in every game and have a chance so we’ve got a lot of work to do yet,” said winger Clarke MacArthur, who opened the scoring in Game 2. “We’ve just got to tighten up a few things I think.

“There’s just a few minor things. We’ve got to get more traffic in front of the net. It showed (Saturday). You’ve got to have guys in front. It’s tough getting there. They’ve got some big boys like (Zdeno) Chara that make it tough getting there so you’ve got to fight hard to get to the spots we need to be in.”

Phaneuf’s winning goal at 1:59 of OT is a great example of what MacArthur is talking about to have success on Rask. Sure, it was a blast by Phaneuf for his first career OT winning goal that kept the club from falling into a 2-0 hole in the series, but Alex Burrows did a tremendous job screening Rask in front.

At this point of the season, Boucher doesn’t want to confuse the players so he’s not about to change the approach. Adjustments are made, however, just because he hasn’t been completely satisfied with the way the Senators have played in the first two games, they’re not about to throw in wrench in the game plan.

The Senators were 22-17-2 on the road this season so they should have no shortage of confidence going into the Garden.

“The fact we get that win now, coming into enemy territory, is big for us as a team,” said defenceman Marc Methot, who made his debut in the series Saturday after missing 10 games with a lacerated finger. “We seem to thrive on the road. It’s huge. I’m hoping that will work to our benefit over the next couple (of games).”

The next two games will go a long way in deciding this series for the Senators.

 

BOROWIECKI’S STATUS UP IN AIR

BOSTON — The Ottawa Senators could make one change Monday in Game 3.

Of course, that may be because they have no other choice.

As the Senators prepare to face the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden with the series tied 1-1, the club could be without defenceman Mark Borowiecki, who left Saturday’s 4-3 OT victory at the Canadian Tire Centre with what appeared to be a leg injury after he slammed hard into the boards and had to be helped off the ice.

Coach Guy Boucher, has been tight-lipped about his lineup through the playoffs, told reporters at the Warrior Ice Den on Sunday after a team meeting that Borowiecki is day-to-day and his status will be determined Monday. After the win Saturday, Boucher indicated that Borowiecki could have returned to the game, but was kept out.

“We’ll see (Monday),” Boucher said.

He said there is potential for Borowiecki to play Monday, but noted the club has extra defencemen with Fredrik Claesson and Ben Harpur, so if there’s risk involved it may be better to be cautious and give somebody else a chance.

“We’ve got numbers now and guys that can take over. We’ve got all our depth, and everybody else is healthy, so if we need to use it there’ll be no need to wait, we’ll do it for sure,” Boucher said.

Taking Borowiecki out does leave the club short of the physical element that he brings every night, but Boucher is confident with Marc Methot back from a lacerated finger along with the option of using either Claesson or Harpur the club will be fine.

“(Borowiecki’s) a threat for the opponent,” Boucher said. “Every time he’s out there, guys have to know that he’s there because he’s one of those heat-seeking missiles that can you at any moment. He hits clean and he hits hard but we have other guys that do it.

“But (Marc Methot) is one of those guys. We had (Borowiecki) in the lineup without (Methot) and now we’ve got (Methot) without (Borowiecki). Every guy you miss, you miss his attributes but with every new guy coming in, you get his own attributes. We’re blessed right now everybody is healthy.”

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