If the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins win one more game and advance to the Stanley Cup Final, it’ll be because they battled through injuries to key players.
NHL playoff scores 2017: Penguins break down a broken Senators squad in Game 5 rout
Pittsburgh is winning the battle of broken teams.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The Ottawa Senators are failing in that regard, but you can hardly blame them.
The ailments plaguing the Predators (Ryan Johansen) and Penguins (every other forward and defenseman) are well-publicized, but the Senators looked like the most battered and bruised team yet in a 7-0 drubbing in Game 5. Pittsburgh walks to Ottawa up 3-2 in the series with a chance at a second consecutive Cup Final appearance.
And it’s not clear how Ottawa can rebound from this. Not when Derick Brassard, Cody Ceci, and Erik Karlsson were in so much pain they barely played in the third period. Not when the Senators had to dress seven defensemen just because they knew at least one of their regular blue liners might not make it through the whole game.
The Senators might not be more injured than Pittsburgh at this point, but the Penguins seem like the only broken team able to scrap around in this series.
Scores
Penguins 7, Senators 0 (PIT leads series, 3-2)
Three Things We Learned
Craig Anderson had an awful birthday
The Senators goalie turned 36 years old on Sunday. He seemed a lot better when he was 35. Anderson gave up three early goals in the first period before coach Guy Boucher pulled him. When he returned minutes later, this happened:
He never returned, and the game got worse for Ottawa from there.
The injuries truly mounted up for the Senators
Brassard didn’t take any faceoffs because of an injury, and left before the end of the game anyway. Karlsson is already battling a few foot fractures and then seemingly turned his ankle in the third. Ottawa only dressed seven defensemen because one of them was injured. It might’ve been Ceci, who left in the third as well. Or maybe he’s just the latest in a growing list of broken Senators.
Ottawa’s power play is broken, too
When you need to mount a miraculous comeback, you hope for power plays. Not sure Ottawa was.
The Senators did have some chances on the man advantage in Game 5, but it felt like most were just long bombs from the point from Karlsson.
As you can tell, there are not many good things to say about the Senators right now.
Impact Moment
Any hope the Senators had in this game probably died when Bobby Ryan decided to make a run out of the zone way too early in the first period.
Conn Smythe Watch
Sid. C’mon.
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