For the first 30 minutes of tonight’s contest, the Sens were playing a perfect road game. They were up by two, while out-shooting AND out-chancing the Toronto Maple Leafs. But after failing to generate a scoring chance on a 1:49-long 5-on-3 powerplay, the Leafs scored twice to tie the game heading into the third period before taking the lead on a powerplay. Instead of the usual “shutdown” hockey we expect to see from Boucher’s Sens, the offence stepped up and scored four in the final frame to give the Sens two crucial points.
This was the scenario heading into tonight, and the pressure was only compounded by the recent winning streaks of the vaunted Buffalo Sabres and the resurgent Florida Panthers.