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One goal.
The difference between the top-seeded New York Rangers and eight-seeded Ottawa Senators came down to one insurmountable score by the Blueshirts in game seven, effectively ending an ultimately impressive 2011-2012 campaign.
While the Ottawa Senators have plenty to be proud of concerning their work and accomplishments this year, there's no question that to a man, the overall outcome was disappointing.
The Senators had the Rangers on the ropes. They just couldn't finish the job.
Below, a few thoughts wrapping up one of the best first-round series of the 2011-2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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--- Henrik Lundqvist was the best player on the ice in this first-round series, but don't confuse that with the reason why the New York Rangers advanced after this seven-game battle. As spectacular as Lundqvist was(4-3-0, .945 save percentage, 1.70 GAA), Craig Anderson was quite the comparable(3-4-0, .933 save percentage, 2.00 GAA).
Craig Anderson closed the gap on the alleged talent disparity between the crease; so much so, it gave the Ottawa Senators a real chance at pulling off the upset. Lundqvist is going to be the best goaltender on the ice regardless of his opponent, but the way Anderson closed the gap was entirely laudable.
More to the original point, though: As good as Lundqvist was, he wasn't the main reason why the New York Rangers are preparing for the second-round right now. No, that'd be the dynamic pairing of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi.
The vaunted match-up between the Ottawa Senators big guns on L1 - including the likes of talented centerman Jason Spezza and thirty-five goal winger Milan Michalek - and the Blueshirts shutdown pairing never materialized. Why?
New York shut 'em down. Game in, game out.
Ottawa Senators fans grew frustrated with the mercurial play from the top-line, placing their target firmly on the back of Jason Spezza. Look, I get it: When you're paying a guy $7M per, you're expecting production. And, while Spezza did have five points (3G/2A) through seven games, he wasn't nearly the unstoppable talent that Senators fans had saw in the regular season. In fact, he was quite containable.
While the frustration is understood, you do have to give some leeway to Jason Spezza, et al. in this series. Their play wasn't enthralling in any way, but that's largely because New York gave them precisely no room to work. And, with a right winger that changed game-by-game, there wasn't a ton of fluidity or chemistry when they jumped over the boards.
John Tortorella knows his shutdown pairing is capable of stymieing the best of attacks, and the Ottawa Senators - 4th in the NHL - may be the best they'll see for the rest of the playoffs, unless they draw the second-ranked Philadelphia Flyers in RD3.
He made no secret about his utilization of Girardi and McDonagh, who combined played
That shouldn't come as a surprise. McDonagh ranked 3rd in the National Hockey League with a 1.7 Corsi Relative QualComp; Girardi ranked 6th at 1.65. Combined, the pairing squared off against the NHL's most elite competition, and performed admirably all season long.
What Spezza's line did was run into a buzz-saw on almost every single even strength shift. Spezza drew Girardi(80%) and McDonagh(73%) of the time, and was effectively marginalized through seven games.
Milan Michalek's numbers were incredibly similar, as expected.
Naturally, you'd think that this kind of dynamic would open things up for the secondary scorers, and to an extent, it did. I thought Kyle Turris' line created a ton of scoring opportunities, but that had plenty to do with drawing an easier blue line tandem in Marc Staal and Anton Stralman.
The Rangers gameplan was simple, yet effective: Bottle up the elite scorers for Ottawa with complete team defense for two-hundred feet, employing two-way forwards and arguably one of the best defensive pairings in the National Hockey League with regularity.
Largely, like most Ottawa Senators fans, I was a bit disappointed with Ottawa's offensive output from their top-scorers. However, it's tough to ignore the reality of the situation; New York's gameplan was designed entirely around them.
And this, folks, is precisely why scoring depth is the most underrated element when structuring a team.
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--- One player whose numbers were low? Erik Karlsson. With just one point in seven games, Karlsson - at least on paper - looked to have underperformed.
That's simply not the case.
With Ottawa's elite locked in New York's stranglehold, Karlsson took it upon himself to try and do everything. He was rushing the puck up ice. He was walking the blue line with balls of steel. He was threading the needle to forwards on passes that left fans nearly speechless.
Emphasis on nearly. The issue? His forwards didn't finish.
It's probably fair to say that the top scorers let Erik Karlsson down a bit. On multiple occasions - especially in game seven - Karlsson dimed up an Ottawa forward with a brilliant pass, only to watch the scoring opportunity fall by the wayside.
Coming into the series, one would've expected a player like Erik Karlsson - young and inexperienced with respect to the playoffs - to struggle a bit. In all honesty, I thought he was a force, and in another comparable seven-game sample against the same opponent with all variables held constant, Karlsson's probably a point-per-game player.
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--- No team - from the coaches, to the players, to each and every fan - likes to be eliminated from the playoffs. But, I'm not sure I've ever seen a situation play out like this.
Ottawa Senators fans are an optimistic bunch. And, who can blame 'em? As mentioned above, they came within one goal of felling the best team in the Eastern Conference. And help is on the way.
The young team was treated to the NHL debuts of both Mark Stone and Jakob Silfverberg, two high-end forward prospects who expect to draw into the team's lineup as early as next season. A third - Mika Zibanejad - is almost certainly heading over, too.
Questions about the forward depth for this team were legitimate, but only in the short-term. Now, there's talent all over, and players are going to have to perform or risk losing their jobs.
It's a beautiful spot for Paul MacLean, assuming Daniel Alfredsson returns. Scoring depth should be aplenty, and on a team that averaged three goals per game in the regular season, that's terrifying.
Did I mention the Ottawa Senators have two bona fide NHL goaltending prospects behind Craig Anderson, a guy who absolutely cooked his way through the seven-game series v. New York?
If anything, the lone question resides on the defensive end. Past an all-world puck mover in Erik Karlsson, there's a couple of question marks. What's the future for Filip Kuba and Sergei Gonchar? Kuba had a tremendous regular season, yet struggled in the playoffs from time-to-time. Gonchar was a nightmare during the regular season on the defensive end, but elevated his game in the post-season. Gonchar actually played a respectable brand of hockey v. a New York Rangers team that can blaze up and down the ice.
Perhaps the most important part of this Ottawa Senators off-season is the continued development of young defenseman Jared Cowen. Cowen showed us flashes of brilliant defensive play in his rookie season, but also had a plenty of rookie mistakes - especially in the post-season.
That's natural - and expected - for a rookie defenseman. So, no harm, no foul. With a full season under his belt and an important camp on the horizon, Cowen could very well continue on his path towards filling a top-four role long-term.
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--- Lastly, I didn't get a chance during last night's post-game blog to thank all of you for your continued readership here. Collectively, you make this an incredibly enjoyable experience. The give-and-take, debate, and opinion sharing here is second to none.
As always, I'll be around in the off-season. Some of my future blogs may have a more general NHL approach, but we have a ton to cover in the coming months.
Just over five months until puck drop.
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Back with more tomorrow.
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Thanks for reading!
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