On Easter Monday, Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green didn’t sugarcoat things: he thinks his team came out nervous in Game 1.
“I thought we were a little nervous to start the game,” Green admitted to the media on Monday, a day after the Senators fell 6–2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs to open their first-round NHL Eastern Conference playoff series. “Our passing wasn’t quite where it needed to be, but I thought it got better as the game went on.”
For several Senators, Sunday night in Toronto marked their first taste of NHL playoff action, and it showed in several areas – primarily with their parade to the penalty box.
The game opened with high intensity, physicality and a boisterous crowd, but the Senators were still right there, down by just one goal. Early in the second period, they missed on some great scoring chances to tie it, but then the Senators started to take costly penalties.
"Yeah, it's a fine line, Green said. "Playoff hockey is emotional, competitive. I'd like to think we have a physical team, and yet there's a fine line between crossing the line and taking penalties."
Green was more terse with the media than usual on Monday and wouldn't reveal what his next-day message to the team was.
“I’m not going to talk about my main message to our group,” he said. “That’s between us and the team, but we’re going to have to play better than we did last night.”
One area where Green may find something to build on is the club's five-on-five play. In that area, the Senators were excellent, but too often, they found themselves in the penalty box, giving Toronto multiple opportunities to strike with the man advantage.
And did they ever. The Maple Leafs were 3 for 6 on Sunday night with their three goals being scored in the first 10 seconds of each power play.
When asked about the frustrating timing of Toronto's scoring, specifically, how Toronto seemed to score immediately after each Senator goal, Green didn't buy into that. “We only scored two,” he said. “We had our looks. We got it to 2–1 and had a couple of really good looks to tie the game.”
As for any potential changes ahead of Game 2, Green didn’t tip his hand.
“There’s potential for changes every game,” he noted.
Okay, so that leaves us to speculate. Veteran winger and shift disturber Nick Cousins would seem like a good candidate to play on Tuesday. Green opted to go with Matt Highmore over Cousins in Game 1.
Green abruptness continued when a reporter asked how captain Brady Tkachuk was feeling after his first playoff game, Green gave a quick reply: “Good. Fine. Yeah."
With Game 2 set for Tuesday night at 7:30 PM in Toronto, the Senators now turn their focus to finding their footing in a series that still has a long way to go. They may have started nervous — but if Game 1 was their wake-up call, their response now becomes the lead story.
If they hope to steal one in Toronto, improvements in poise, discipline, finish, defence, and goaltending will all need to be a part of that response.