The Montreal Canadiens hope to take their first series lead over the Senators in Ottawa Sunday night, as the teams head into the pivotal Game Three locked at one game apiece.
The Senators will be hosting their first game of the series at Scotiabank Place in Kanata, a 20 minute drive from downtown Ottawa and a two-hour drive from Montreal.
The Canadiens can count on some support from the crowd, as many supporters from Quebec could be in attendance - indeed the arena is technically closer to Aymler, Quebec than downtown Ottawa - and will likely try to drown out the Senators' faithful.
The home-ice advantage might also be nullified by the fact that while the Senators had a solid 15-6-3 regular season home record, the Canadiens were an almost-identical 15-7-2 on the road.
Brian Gionta skated with the team Sunday morning but Max Pacioretty remained on the sidelines, as did Lars Eller, who suffered facial fractures and a concussion in Game One.
The Canadiens hope to get another solid contribution from Brendan Gallagher, who has scored in both games and P.K. Subban who has proven a dominant force, creating many chances with his dynamic skating.
Rugged Ryan White, who observers believe played his best-ever game as a Canadien Friday, and Brandon Prust will be expected to keep their teammates from getting bullied by the larger Ottawa defence.
Ottawa hopes for a better performance from star defenceman Erik Karlsson, who was uncharacteristically sluggish in Game Two, even handing over a weak pass that Ryan White intercepted for the game’s first goal.
Some observers have speculated that the Norris Trophy-winning Karlsson might not be fully recovered from the lacerated Achilles tendon that kept him out much of the season, while others have suggested that he might be lacking stamina upon his return and unable to handle the heavy minutes he has been given by coach Paul MacLean.
Both teams have scored five goals thus far in the series but the Canadiens have overshot the Senators 84-61 in the two games in Montreal.
The Senators won the first game of the series 4-2 Thursday and the Canadiens bounced back Friday with a 3-1 victory.
