Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan will take on the New York Rangers in the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs starting Thursday night. While at least two games of the series will be played at Madison Square Garden, his life story may deserve a spot on Broadway.

On Thursday, Howie Kussoy of the New York Post recapped the double life Ryan was forced to live as a teenager because of a fugitive father who ran from police after a domestic violence situation involving the hockey player's mother, Melody, in 1997.

His father, Bob Stevenson, was charged with attempted murder and five other felonies, per Kussoy, after an incident in which Melody suffered a "fractured skull, a punctured lung, internal bleeding and four broken ribs."

Melody did not cooperate with authorities afterward, but after Stevenson was released on bail, he went on the run. Eventually, Melody forgave Stevenson and they reunited, continuing to run as a family. They settled in Southern California and changed their last name to Ryan.

A few years later, when he was 12 years old, Bobby Ryan awoke surrounded by police. They had finally tracked down his father, an incident he recounted during a conversation with Chris Simpson of Sportsnet in 2013.

"I think I knew this wasn't gonna last forever," Ryan said. "That was kind of the toughest time when [my dad was arrested]. I knew it was gonna be a long time before I saw him again."

The New York Post report noted Ryan's mother, who worked two jobs to support his budding hockey future, gave him the option to switch his name back to Stevenson. He declined but doesn't know why he didn't want to return to his first identity:

It's really weird that I didn't want to go back to my other name. I don't know if it was because I didn't want to be associated with everything that happened or I was getting recognition throughout the country for hockey or what it was ... but I liked it. I felt more comfortable with it at that point for some reason.

He admitted there were times after getting drafted second overall by the then-Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2005 where he considered quitting hockey. He told Tim Baines of the Ottawa Sun in 2013 that sports psychologist Dana Sinclair kept him from walking away.

"She saved my career," Ryan said. "When I started seeing her, I was 18, it was post-draft. I wasn't really excited about the game for a while. I wanted to quit. I had a lot more going on than most 18-year-olds should ever have to deal with."

Now 30, the forward has scored 472 points (223 goals and 249 assists) in 669 career games with the Ducks and Senators. He also helped the United States secure a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Ryan enjoyed a strong start to the 2017 postseason with seven points in six games as the Senators knocked out the Boston Bruins in Round 1. Ottawa will need him to keep playing on that level as it faces off with the Rangers and superstar netminder Henrik Lundqvist.

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk believes Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, whom he called a "whiner," should have received a harsh punishment for the slash on Sens defenseman Marc Methot during Thursday night's game.

On Friday, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen passed along comments from Melnyk, who didn't hold back his feelings about the NHL's best player.

"Sometimes they miss these things. I hope this guy, and we all know who he is, the guy is a just a whiner beyond belief," he said. "You do this kind of stuff and I don't care who you are in the league, I don't care if you're the No. 1 player in the league, you should sit out a long time for this kind of crap. I really do."

Methot's fingertip was chopped off and his entire finger bloodied as part of the gruesome injury, which didn't draw a penalty on Crosby.

Melnyk added: "The guy lost the top of his finger? Did you see it? It's ugly. I wouldn't want to show that to anybody under the age of 25." 

Pierre LeBrun‏ of ESPN.com reported the league isn't going to look into the incident for potential supplemental discipline either.

Senators coach Guy Boucher confirmed Methot's finger is "destroyed. It's shattered, and he's out for weeks," according to ESPN.com. The report included postgame comments from Crosby, who said it wasn't an intentional act.

"I was just trying to get his stick, and I think I caught his finger, judging by his reaction and their reaction," he said. "I've gotten those before. They don't feel good."

It marked the second straight game Crosby was involved in a controversial incident. On Tuesday, he was caught on camera spearing the groin of Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly from behind during the Pens' 3-1 victory over Buffalo at the First Niagara Center.

Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen received a three-game suspension for a separate play during the same game. Buffalo goaltender Robin Lehner said Friday "certain teams in the league get the benefit of the doubt," per Heather Prusak of WGRZ:

Robin Lehner is never afraid to speak his mind. Hear his thoughts on Rasmus Ristolainen's 3-game suspension. @WGRZ pic.twitter.com/jaQXLhakJc

— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) March 24, 2017

Crosby, as the face of the NHL, is always going to receive more leeway.

That said, the league's decision to look the other way after two recent incidents is a dangerous precedent to set ahead of the more physical playoffs.

The Ottawa Senators announced Tuesday they acquired veteran winger Viktor Stalberg from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2017 draft.

This comes after the Senators announced Monday they acquired forward Alex Burrows from the Vancouver Canucks, so improving the offensive depth was clearly a priority.

Stalberg has played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers and Hurricanes in his career since entering the league in the 2009-10 campaign. He has appeared in 57 games this season and has 12 points on nine goals and three assists.

He scored a career-high 43 points in 2011-12 with the Blackhawks but hasn’t been able to find similar offensive firepower since. Durability is also a concern after he appeared in just 47 games in 2012-13 and 25 games in 2014-15.

As for the Hurricanes, they have a mere 58 points and are well outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. They are on their way to an eighth straight playoff-less season and are rebuilding, so the draft considerations for an aging veteran who likely won’t be in his prime when they are ready to contend makes sense.

According to the team's website, Carolina now has seven picks in the first three rounds of the 2017 draft.

The 31-year-old Stalberg escapes those struggling Hurricanes and joins an Ottawa team that is four points behind the Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division with 21 games remaining (Montreal has 19 games left). However, the Senators are just 19th in the league in goals per game, so improving the offensive depth could prove critical heading into the stretch run and postseason.

The Ottawa Senators were in the hunt for a new head coach after firing Dave Cameron on April 12, and on Sunday, the team announced it had agreed on a three-year deal with former Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Guy Boucher.

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk commented on the decision to hire Boucher in the team release:

Over the past three weeks, Pierre Dorion and our hockey operations staff have undertaken a thorough and comprehensive search for our next head coach. Following a detailed evaluation of all coaching candidates, there was overwhelming consensus that Guy was our top candidate. We wanted a great coach and this process yielded our top pick. I couldn’t be happier. On behalf of the entire Senators organization, the great city of Ottawa and our fans, I want to welcome Guy, his wife Marsha and their three children, Vincent, Mila and Naomi.

The Senators have undergone a shake-up since finishing the regular season eight points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. General manager Bryan Murray stepped down and was replaced by assistant GM Pierre Dorion, who fired Cameron just two days later.

Ottawa has missed the postseason in two of the past three years. The one time it did qualify during that stretch, the 2014-15 campaign, it got eliminated in the first round.

Per Chris Stevenson of NHL.com, Dorion made it clear that expectations are much higher: "For us not making the playoffs was simply unacceptable. I wasn't hired here to bring the team to the playoffs, but to succeed in the playoffs."

Clearly, the Senators believe Boucher is the man to reach that level of success, as he steered the Lightning to an Eastern Conference Final appearance in the 2010-11 season.

Just ran into the "Puppy" family. Confirmed the puppy will be named "Bobby"!!! @TSN1200 pic.twitter.com/rjqDk4xwTy

— Shawn Simpson (@SimmerDownCIH) January 24, 2016

Two young Ottawa Senators fans got exactly what they wished for: a Bobby Ryan goal and a dog.

Seven-year-old Reece Jansen and his 10-year-old brother Cole brought a special sign along with them to the Canadian Tire Centre on Jan. 24 when the Senators hosted the New York Rangers. 

The red and black letters written boldly on white poster board reflected a promise the Jansen dad had made his sons: If Ryan scored a goal, the boys would get a dog.

That night, Ryan did score, and the Jansen boys eventually got their dog—and his name is "Bobby":

Now in the starting lineup for the Jansen family, a dog named Bobby https://t.co/ZpahmX2Ktt pic.twitter.com/cWxcg8QO4W

— Ottawa Citizen (@OttawaCitizen) February 13, 2016

[Twitter, h/t SB Nation]

Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray announced Thursday that the organization signed head coach Dave Cameron to a two-year contract extension, according to a release on the team's website.  

Cameron has been with the Senators since 2011, initially serving as an assistant coach. He was promoted to head coach in December, however, and promptly led the team to a 32-15-8 record, making the postseason on the final day of the campaign after miraculously erasing a 14-point deficit for the final playoff spot.

A former NHL player, Cameron also has a long resume, spending time as the head coach for the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Canada’s national junior team, the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators and the OHL's Toronto St. Michael’s Majors.

It's hardly surprising the team locked up Cameron for the next two years. The Senators were an energized team under the coach, and his prior experience suggests he can handle the ups and downs of running a team going forward. 

The hope in Ottawa will be that Cameron and the Senators can pick up where they left off in the 2014-15 season and won't need another miraculous run down the stretch to reach the postseason. 

The Ottawa Senators lost Sunday's series-ending Game 6 to the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 2-0, marking the first time Ottawa has been shut out in the past 130 games, per Sportsnet Stats.

Despite struggling last season and throughout the better part of 2014-15, the Senators previously had not suffered a shutout since losing 5-0 to the Boston Bruins on Dec. 27, 2013.

Of course, while that stretch does include Ottawa's torrid final two months of the 2014-15 regular season, it also includes the team's lousy first four months of the campaign as well as the final three-and-a-half months of a 2013-14 season that ended with a middling 37-31-14 record and no playoff appearance.

The impressive streak wasn't an easy one to stop, as Canadiens goaltender Carey Price made 43 saves to hold the Senators scoreless in Sunday's deciding Game 6, getting a bit of help from the referees along the way.

Six minutes and 55 seconds into the second period, it briefly appeared that Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau had scored a game-tying putback goal to take advantage of Price's rare mistake.

Unfortunately for Ottawa, an early whistle from referee Chris Lee negated the would-be goal, even though it was quite clear Price never had full control of the puck.

Price didn't make another mistake from there on out, and the Senators' remarkable season officially came to an end when Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty scored a long-distance, empty-net goal in the final second of the game.

First, the good news.

The Ottawa Senators staved off elimination at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night with a 1-0 victory in Game 4 of their first-round series. The Senators avoided a sweep at home and will again play for their postseason lives in Game 5 in Montreal on Friday night.

Craig Anderson, for the second straight game, made coach Dave Cameron's decision to switch goaltenders look good. He turned aside 28 shots and has stopped 75 of 77 shots since Andrew Hammond turned into a pumpkin during the first two games of this series.

The Canadiens lead the best-of-seven series 3-1. Is it over?

Of course not. Game 5 is Friday. Didn't you just read that?

But how likely is it that the Senators can come back and win this series?

Here are a handful things that need to transpire for Ottawa to have a shot:

1. Carey Price, the presumptive Hart Trophy winner, has to lose four straight games

Price hasn't lost four games in a row all season; not four in regulation, not three in regulation and one in overtime, not four in a shootout. Price has not left the ice after a loss four straight times, period. 

If you're wondering about the Canadiens themselves, no, they have not lost four straight at any point this season.

For a team to come back from a 3-0 deficit, it needs some sort of vulnerability in net at the other end of the ice. Price's worst game in this series was Game 1, when he stopped 30 of 33 shots (.909) and a man nicknamed after a cartoon sandwich thief couldn't take advantage.

The only goal Price allowed Wednesday was a perfectly placed wrist shot by Mike Hoffman through an equally terrific screen by Mika Zibanejad.

"We need to get bodies in front of him (Carey Price) and make it hard for him to save it," Hoffman said afterward, as noted by The Associated Press. "More times than not if he sees the puck he’s probably going to save it. Mika did a great screen for me there and if he wasn’t there it would probably not go in."

"We weren’t going to win four games here tonight," said Hoffman. "It’s one. We’re moving on to the next one now."

For the Senators to make magic happen, they'd need a goaltender who can match Price save for save. And that's not likely to...wait, that just happened.

2. Craig Anderson has to be nearly flawless in Games 5 through 7

And he can be. And he has been. Anderson is quietly one of the best postseason goaltenders around.

In 25 playoff games, Anderson has a .930 save percentage. Since 2009, the year of Anderson's first postseason berth, only Tim Thomas has a better save percentage among goaltenders with at least 25 games (Tuukka Rask is percentage points behind Anderson). Price is at just .919 over that time, so it's not as though the Senators don't have a puncher's chance with Anderson.

"I think it’s just a matter of will power. That’s what it comes down to, just sheer determination to go out there and do the job," Anderson said after the game. "I had a lot to prove after sitting out for so long and being out with injury. You just want to come back and do your best and that’s what I’m trying to do."

With Hammond carrying the water over the final two months, Anderson is fresh and over the injury that allowed Hammond to take the reins. Anderson also had a .923 save percentage in 35 regular-season games, so the Senators have a guy in net who's capable of outdueling Price.

3. A key Canadiens player has to suffer an injury along the way

There have been two recent comebacks from down 3-0 to win a series; Philadelphia overcame Boston in the second round in 2010 while Los Angeles rallied to beat San Jose in 2014. In the salary-cap era, a 3-0 deficit likely has more to do with one team getting some bounces than one team being utterly dominant.

When the Bruins blew their lead, they lost David Krejci to injury in Game 3; when San Jose squandered its lead, the Sharks lost Marc-Edouard Vlasic for the series during Game 5.

Price, P.K. Subban and Max Pacioretty are the Canadiens' key players. All due respect to Nathan Beaulieu (upper body injury), but the series isn't turning because of his unfortunate absence.

As long as the Habs' big guns stay healthy, they'll be fine.

4. The Senators need to win the possession battle at five-on-five

In Game 4, Ottawa had 60.9 percent of the even-strength shot attempts, but in the previous three games, Montreal was the team that had more than 50 percent of those attempts. More often than not, the Canadiens were losing the battle but also winning the game because of Price; during the first three games of the series, Price didn't have to offset any even-strength flaws.

The Senators have to at least make it difficult on the Canadiens at five-on-five, and they did that in Game 4. They can't ask Anderson to steal the final three games of this series.

5. So can the Senators really do this?

In the words of former captain Daniel Alfredsson, probably not. But it's not as far-fetched as it may seem; after all, an underdog rallied from a 3-0 series deficit less than a year ago. The Senators lost two of the first three games in overtime. If Hammond had made just one more difficult save, this series could be tied at 2-2.

It will take a miracle. Not a major miracle, like water into wine; a minor miracle, like wine in a box.

But as long as Price is in net and the Habs don't lose a top-six forward or top-four defenseman, it's just a matter of time before Montreal closes out the Senators.

All statistics via NHL.com. Advanced statistics via Natural Stat Trick and War-on-Ice.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @DaveLozo.

Forward Mark Stone has been a revelation for the Ottawa Senators this season, but the sudden star's status for the remainder of the Sens' first-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens was knocked into question after he injured his wrist in Game 1. He will be back for Game 2.

Continue for updates.

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Stone Will Play in Game 2

Friday, April 17

The Senators reported that Stone will play Friday night.

The Habs' 4-3 win in Game 1 over the Senators Wednesday was playoff hockey at its finest, but it wasn't without controversy as Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban slashed Stone in the wrist.

As a result of that play, Stone suffered a microfracture, according to the Sens' official Twitter account:

Injury update: #Sens Mark Stone has suffered a microfracture of his right wrist & his availability for the series is unknown at this time.

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 16, 2015

Per ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun, the 22-year-old winger did not participate in Ottawa's practice Thursday:

No Mark Stone out there for Senators practice

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 16, 2015

Subban received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the slash, and Stone believes he had intent to injure, according to Ian Mendes of TSN 1200:

Mark Stone on Subban slash: "He tried targeting me a few times after face-offs in the first period. He knew what he was doing."

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) April 16, 2015

Senators general manager Bryan Murray talked on Thursday about the injury, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun and the Senators' official Twitter feed:

Murray says Stone is very questionable for the series. Has fracture and ligament damage. #Sens

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) April 16, 2015

"We knew before the game was over that he was trying to play hurt." - #Sens GM Bryan Murray on Stone returning to the line-up last night

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) April 16, 2015

Stone was a huge key to Ottawa's miraculous run to the playoffs as he registered 26 goals and 64 points to pace all rookies during the regular season.

Having him back in the fray for Game 2 could provide a tremendous boost to Ottawa's offense.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

You blew it, Ottawa Senators.

Things aren’t going to get easier for you. You had a glorious chance to make a massive statement and continue your Cinderella run, and you failed to take advantage.

The 4-3 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens in the opening-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday is just one game in a best-of-seven series. But what a game to lose. Maybe the most favorable circumstances you’ll get.

You came in with two months of momentum.

You were facing a Canadiens team missing its top goal scorer, Max Pacioretty.

The opportunities kept mounting for you, too. Veteran blueliner Andrei Markov scored into his own net in the first period to give you a 1-0 lead in a road game.

P.K. Subban was tossed for a slash in the second period, leaving your opponents a man short for much of the game. And not just any man, either. Subban is their superstar defenseman and potential future captain. You scored twice on the ensuing five-minute power play, which included an early portion of five-on-three play.

You slipped three pucks in total past landslide Hart and Vezina Trophy favorite Carey Price and the stingiest regular-season group in the NHL.

But you couldn’t pull off a victory. And that may have been your best chance to get a leg up in this series.

On a night where Subban gets tossed out, Pacioretty doesn't play & Price looks human, the Habs win.

— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) April 16, 2015

The loss certainly puts a dent in the Senators’ spirits after a remarkable couple of months saw them climb out of a 14-point deficit to claim the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Their run was magical and inspiring, as the close-knit club played dedicated and desperate hockey for each other, their ailing general manager who has been battling colon cancer and their assistant coach Mark Reeds, who died on the eve of these playoffs following his own fight with the disease.

Has the magic run out now that they’ve accomplished their short-term goal of qualifying for the postseason? Did they breathe a sigh of relief and forget to bring their shoulders back up?

Andrew Hammond, the goaltender who helped the Sens to a 21-3-3 finish to the regular season, looked like a guy whose resume shows little NHL experience and certainly none in the playoffs.

Allowing four or more goals against is something The Hamburglar has done just twice in his brilliant, albeit brief NHL career so far.

With a chance to prove the many who picked the Sens as favorites over the much higher-seeded Habs right, the visitors had no answer for the Canadiens’ fourth line.

Brian Flynn enjoyed a career-high three-point night after going pointless through nine games following his arrival from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline, Torrey Mitchell netted a goal and Brandon Prust earned an assist for a total of five points from the grinders.

Aside from a fortunate bounce and the pair of power-play goals—which were quickly negated when they allowed a short-handed marker from the Habs to give the home side the lead in between—the Senators failed to keep the pressure on Price.

They could not silence the hostile crowd in a notoriously hostile building. It’s a deafening environment. And the Sens will not get a break from that on Friday in Montreal for Game 2.

In fact, even the Senators' home games will feature many of the same chants in favor of the Canadiens, thanks to a large portion of the Ottawa population that remains loyal to Les Habitants and flocks to the arena in their red and white colors every time the Original Six club comes to town.

The Senators are no slouches. They deserve to be in the playoffs. The series has at least three more games and as many six left.

Sens winger Clarke MacArthur spoke to Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch after the game.

"You can't win the series in game. We'll come back and be ready to go Friday night," said MacArthur. #Sens

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) April 16, 2015

They are capable of winning games against the Canadiens.

The circumstances that seemed to fall in their favor just won’t be as conducive to victory on Friday.

Pacioretty could return for Game 2.

Barring a suspension to Subban for his hack at rookie Mark Stone’s wrist, which seemed to do some damage, the Montreal defense will be back to full strength, too.

That’s why Senators head coach Dave Cameron lobbied heavily for supplemental discipline in his postgame press conference, per Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.

Dave Cameron: "I think it's an easy solution: You either suspend him or one of their best players gets slashed and just give us five."

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 16, 2015

The not-so-subtle threat followed postgame rough stuff from the Sens on the ice looking to exact a little revenge.

“We didn’t like each other before this series so this is no surprise,” Kyle Turris, one of the Sens goal scorers, said on the CBC broadcast after finishing with 16 penalty minutes following the buzzer brawl.

If nothing else, it’s created an anticipation of a physical series heading into the next game—even if that series turns out to be shorter than we thought.

Steve Macfarlane has covered the NHL hockey for more than a decade, including seven seasons following the Calgary Flames for the Calgary Sun. Follow him on Twitter at @macfarlaneHKY.