Ottawa – The old Ottawa Senators, they would have said, would have been a collection of “Macs” from the old Charles Atlas comic strip. Sand, or, more accurately, ice shavings, sprayed in their faces would be returned with only bony-armed flailing.
These Senators were too much like the political ones in Canada’s capital, and those south of the border. Too deferential. Too collegial. Not tough enough to perform the ugly, dirty, nasty business of winning a Stanley Cup.
A loss Saturday night would have made Ottawa a collection of lame-duck Senators, and Anaheim did its best to put them in a 3-0 Stanley Cup Finals hole with their usual street fight on skates. An old Senators team might have backed down, but this one stood up and walloped back, literally and figuratively, in its 5-3 victory.
“The toughness that’s in this room is mental toughness,” said Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips, with the team since 1997-98, after the Senators played the first Finals game in this city since 1927. “Not letting anything really affect us, no highs and lows, just staying with the game plan. That’s been a key to this team.”
The Ducks are considered the NHL’s bully boys, a team that thrives on nastiness and intimidation. Led by feisty general manager Brian Burke and scowling coach Randy Carlyle, the Ducks hit the Senators with some of their best shots in Game 3 – cheap or otherwise. Former Avalanche winger Dean McAmmond was knocked out of the game in the third period with a questionable elbow by defenseman Chris Pronger.
But while the Senators responded physically with a near five-on-five brawl minutes later, they did not lose their heads and, most important, the hockey game. It was the Ducks who seemed to lose theirs, perhaps from the realization that this Ottawa team is unlike any from the past.
“That’s (Anaheim’s) style. They battle hard with the goaltender, they take the body real well,” said Ottawa coach Bryan Murray, a former GM of the Ducks. “I know lots of these players. They’re big, physical people. That’s their game plan, and it’s not just tonight, it’s every night. But I thought we handled it well. We got some pucks to the net, finally, and we found a way to win a hockey game.”
Phillips played on some Ottawa teams – ones that featured forwards such as Alexei Yashin and Alexander Daigle – that were considered too soft, too European, too fancy and not tough-minded enough.
“We’d lose a game sometimes and it would affect us. This team puts things behind it better,” Phillips said.
Ottawa’s new face is best exemplified by forward Chris Neil, who didn’t let the birth Friday of a daughter make him go soft for the hardscrabble battle of Game 3.
“We had to go out and play hard for Deano, and we did that. We showed that we’re a competitive team,” Neil said. “You don’t like to see it, the elbow to the head. So you feel for your teammate, and you just want to play that much harder for them.”
The Senators still might not win a Stanley Cup. But this Senators team, unlike those of the past, don’t figure to go down without a fight.
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
DENVER POST THREE STARS
1. Anton Volchenkov – Senators defenseman scored a goal, had an assist and finished with five shots on net.
2. Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim forward had a goal and assist.
3. Daniel Alfredsson – Scored a disputed goal for Ottawa, and was strong on the puck.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
When video review officials allowed Alfredsson’s goal, Anaheim assistant general manager Bob Murray stood and sarcastically clapped in their direction.
NEXT
Game 4, Monday at 6 p.m., Scotiabank Place
