The Pittsburgh Penguins have dominated the Ottawa Senators thus far in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal, and the Pens can finish the series in four games with a road win tonight.
How dominant have the Pens been? How about a 13-4 goals advantage, 5-1 power-play goals advantage (Ottawa has scored just once on 11 opportunities with the man advantage) and a shots advantage of 127-90. Not to mention the Senators are 16th of 16 playoff teams in penalties.
Ottawa, an opening +155 money line betting underdog on WagerWeb.com for tonight’s game (over/under: 5.5 goals) will now try and duplicate what only two other teams in the NHL have accomplished. Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders have come back from 3-0 series deficits.
The Sens, remember, were Cup finalists last season and were 3-0-1 in the regular season vs. Pittsburgh. Ottawa, which eliminated Pittsburgh in five games in last year’s playoffs, was last swept in a playoff series by Toronto in the 2001 conference quarterfinals.
"We've got to look at the players that come to play, work hard and do everything in their power -- to their ability level, and I qualify it that way -- to help this organization be good going forward, so (Wednesday) night is an indicator of that, without a doubt," coach Bryan Murray said.
Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has been stellar in these playoffs with a 1.34 goals-against average and .956 save percentage. Against Ottawa last year, he had a 3.76 goals-against-average and a .880 save percentage."I feel a little more comfortable," said Fleury, who has allowed four goals in three games, including a shutout in the series opener. "Last year maybe I was thinking too much. I know we have a good team. I know we have guys who play well defensively and we can get some goals."
The Sens did get injured captain Daniel Alfredsson back in Monday's 4-1 loss. That’s been about the only good news.
Alfredsson had last played on April 3 in Toronto, when he took a hard hit from Maple Leaf forward Mark Bell. Alfredsson injured his knee and neck on the play.
Alfredsson, who finished second on Ottawa with 89 points this season, had four shots on goal Monday.
"I didn't use him as much, obviously he wasn't at full speed, you could see that," Murray said. "But he had hands, he had a couple of scoring chances.”
The Penguins will go for their first postseason series sweep in 16 years tonight.
”We just want to win the series, that’s our goal,” Penguins defenseman Ryan Whitney said. “If we win (tonight), that’d be nice. We’re looking to kind of finish them off here and move on to the next round. We’re just thinking about (tonight’s) game right now.”
Ottawa was 22-15-4 at home during the regular season, while the Pens were 21-17-3 as the visiting club.
Betting trends: Pens are 48-37 ATS overall. ... Under is 8-2 in Pens’ last 10 overall. ... Under is 8-2 in Pens’ last 10 vs. Eastern Conference. ... Under is 9-3 in Senators’ last 12 home games. ... Over is 7-3-3 in the last 13 meetings in Ottawa. ... Senators are 29-56 ATS overall.
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