The Ottawa Senators didn’t lose their structure against the New York Rangers.
They lost their desperation to win.
That’s how Ottawa coach Guy Boucher saw last night’s 4-1 loss at MSG. The Rangers dominated from the very beginning. It was 2-0 after 20 minutes, and the Sens could not battle back this time.
“There was nothing different that they did,” said Boucher. “They just wanted it more than us. They were first on pucks and they won their battles. ... It doesn’t matter what systems you use, if we’re playing like that, there’s no way we can win any game, not even a regular-season game. That was below every single standard.”
The Rangers were naturally desperate, trailing the series 2-0 heading into the game. Boucher said yesterday morning that the Sens needed to muster their own sense of desperation, even if it’s “something you have to create superficially.”
But they couldn’t muster much, and now the Rangers are back in the series.
Game 4 goes tomorrow in New York.
“We have to have the urgency, the battle level that we normally have,” said Boucher. “And we’ve gotta match theirs. Because we know that they’ll be home and they’ll most probably display the exact same urgency as they did last game.”