The Ottawa Senators have a 2-1 edge in their series with the Montreal Canadiens. After a 6-1 blow-out win in Game 3, the Senators have a chance to punch their ticket to the second round of the playoffs.
Unfortunately, if the Senators win, they could end up playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the next round if the Penguins win their series against the New York Islanders. The Senators could not beat the Penguins in the regular season, losing 2-1, 4-2 and 3-1, picking up just one point in the three games in a shootout loss.
The kicker with this potential matchup however, is that Erik Karlsson was injured in the first meeting with Pittsburgh. Karlsson did not finish the game and the Senators lost the game in a shootout.
Karlsson's play has risen noticeably since his return, putting up four assists in his final three regular season games as well as four points in three playoff games. He is obviously the cog in the Senators' renewed offense with multi-point games in both of the Senators' first-round playoff wins against the Canadiens.
Ottawa could be on top of this list, but they have to play Pittsburgh in the next round as mentioned above if both the Senators and the Penguins win their respective series. Pittsburgh just has too much offense as a whole that could and likely would overpower the Senators anemic regular season offense.
Although the Senators have been playing better offensively since Karlsson's return, it still likely wouldn't be enough against a Penguins team that is averaging 4.33 goals per game in a first-round series with the Islanders.
More Info: TSV Hartberg - SV Horn - Austrian Erste Liga
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