Mere hours after arriving back in Ottawa after the Senators double overtime loss in Carolina, head coach Travis Green met the media including Hockey Hot Stove at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Down two games to none in the series to the Hurricanes, Green and his staff have the daunting task of reeling in his players to leave Monday’s devastating loss behind.
Only 36 times out 270 (11.8%) has an NHL team win a playoff series after dropping their first two games on the road. The Senators are 0 for 10 all-time when trailing 2-0 during the postseason.
Green said he received numerous messages after his club lost a hard-fought game telling him how well they played. But the Senators head coach like his players, need time to reflect.
“I’ve had a lot of people tell me what a great game it was. It doesn’t feel like it was a great game. When you’re on the other end of it, feels like a shitty game, but you know, as the hours go by, you do realize that it was a really good hockey game by both teams.”
Green stressed the key how his players bounce back, not only physically, but mentally as well.
“Not going to hide the fact those are hard games to lose, and that’s okay. That’s part of it when you’re playing for something as prestigious as Stanley Cup. When you lose a game like that, it hurts, and it should hurt, and you’ve got a couple days to regroup, not just physically, but mentally as well, after losing a game like that, that’s going to be important.”
https://hockeyhotstove.com/category/bloggers/murray-pam
The Senators are certainly down but not out, Green was encouraged by the way his club bounced back after being down two goals in Game 2.
“I thought we took a step. I thought the first game again. I don’t want to say we’re nervous. I just thought we didn’t play as quick for whatever reason that was. I thought they played a lot quicker than us – created more last game, a lot more…I thought we also gave up more the first half of the game, our game was a little bit loose. I think we really emphasized playing on your toes and playing quick. I thought defensively, we almost got a little too aggressive and tried to do too much, which is usually a strong point of our game. I thought we tightened that up as the game went on, and it was a hell of a hockey game,” added the Senators head coach.
“Both goalies were phenomenal. Someone’s got to lose a game, and unfortunate that we were the ones that lost it.”
Fortunately for the Senators, their home crowd is ready to rock the house when the team hits the ice Thursday. Green is also looking forward to the atmosphere.
“But now we get to come home and they took care of business in their building. We’ve got to take care of business. Sometimes, I think, even as as a player, you don’t get to take it in as much as a coach. There’s moments sometimes during the game where you get to just breathe, you know, you get the start of the game and feel the energy. It’s a special feeling that you know you don’t get in the regular season. Really looking forward to our first game at home.”
Green made several in-game adjustments Monday resulting in shifting all four his forward lines. Defensemen Dennis Gilbert and Lassi Thomson rotated filling in with different defensive partners all evening. The pair were playing due to the absence of Artem Zub who sustained a lower-body injury in Game 1 in the midst of initiating a hit to Hurricanes Seth Jarvis. Tyler Kleven has missed nine games after being hit in the face with a puck.
Zub was a game-time decision for Game 2 and Kleven was has been skating with the club since Friday.
Green noted there’s no injury update on either player during his availability. He told media prior to the playoffs he will only provide updated injury status on game days.
However, the Senators head coach didn’t rule out making any lineup changes for Game 3.
“We haven’t ruled out (changes). I’m not sitting here saying that we’re going with the same lineup next game. That’s part of the plan of hockey, adjusting your lineup, making small tweaks in your game from game to game. I don’t think there’s a lot of adjustments going on between these two teams with the way we play, but there’s subtle ones that we’ve tried to implement last game that I thought helped a little bit. But you’ll do it from game to game. And as far as personnel goes, we contemplate all options that we have.”
The Senators take to the ice Wednesday for practice. There’s a chance more will be known how they’ll line up Thursday night.
Home › Forums › Travis Green Reflects On Senators Double OT Loss and What’s Next