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Friday, April 13, 2012

Making the most of Alfie - Sportsnet.ca

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Making the most of Alfie - Sportsnet.ca
Apr 13th 2012, 23:00

At the end of most practices for most of his long and illustrious career, Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson engages all-comers in a kid's game of keep-away.

After 16 years in the NHL, he's very, very good at it. He dangles between the face-off dots as his professional-hockey-playing teammates, two or three at a time, sometimes more -- try to relieve him of the puck.

More often than not they can't.

"I don't play with him too much," said Senators centre Jason Spezza. "He's too good."

After the losing the first game of their first-round series against the New York Rangers the Senators and Alfredsson are in a game of keep away with significantly higher stakes, as in keeping their fledgling playoff hopes from fading before they even have a chance to take root.

And not surprisingly the Senators may turn to Alfredsson to spark them against the New York in Game 2.

Senators head coach Paul McLean hinted after Ottawa's practice Friday that he might put the Senators 39-year-old captain on the wing along with Spezza, the club's leading scorer. With 35-goal man Milan Michalek on the left side the line would feature three of Ottawa's top four scorers from the regular season.

That combination was together when Alfredsson scored midway through the period to finally put Ottawa on the board after trailing 4-0 against the Rangers early in the third period.

MacLean will be looking for more, even if it means juggling his lines elsewhere.

"I think Alfie always plays good for us," he said. "Those three can generate some offence for us on a consistent basis."

The Senators were cautiously optimistic even as No. 8 seeds on the way in, based in part on their promising record against the Rangers and the fact that in the NHL, first-round upsets aren't entirely uncommon.

Since the current playoff format was adopted 17 years ago the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds downed the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds 23 times in 68 chances. It's a function of league parity, the impact of a hot goalie and a development that will likely become even more common in the hard salary cap era.

But in most cases the underdog has gone home with at least a split of the first two games. In fact there's never been a No. 8 seed to topple a No. 1 after going down 2-0 in a series, a fact dug up by Sportsnet's Ian Mendes.

Alfredsson didn't practice yesterday -- simply a precautionary measure, according to Maclean -- and as a result he wasn't available to speak with reporters.

But he's clearly relishing this unexpected return to the playoff spotlight, sparked in no small measure by his return to health.

After playing a career-low 54 games last season and under-going back surgery, a resurgent Alfredsson scored 27 goals and added 32 assists during the regular season.

And while the Senators as a group weren't great in Game 1, Alfredsson was his usual playoff self. He started the play he scored on by forcing a turnover in the neutral zone, carrying the puck into the Rangers end, passing off and heading straight to the net for the deflection and his 46th career playoff goal.

It was a case of leadership by example and something Spezza hopes the Senators can do in greater volume as they try to solve the Rangers Henrik Lunqvist who shut out Ottawa before allowing two late goals that hardly shaped the outcome of the game, but gave Ottawa a bit of hope.

"In the third period we did a better job of getting to the to the middle of the ice and getting guys driving on their goalie and stopping in front of the net and making it harder for him," said Spezza. "They do such a great job of collapsing and blocking shots that we have to use our points and spread the rink a little bit, which we did towards the end of the game and got us goals."

"(But) you have to be prepared to lose games in the playoffs, you're not going to win them all," Spezza said.

He's correct, though history shows that the Senators will need to win Game 2 to keep any realistic expectation of an upset in play.

Alfredsson is making every effort to appreciate this season and the post-season. After last year he knows he can't take anything for granted at this stage of his career. He's numbering his sticks as he uses them in games, marking them for posterity with a strip of tape.

"You never know what's going to happen next year," he was saying the other day. "Even if I play next year, you don't know if you're going to be in the playoffs, so I'm going to play accordingly and enjoy it at the same time."

Alfredsson doubtless will be looking forward to many more games of post-practice keep-away this spring. He jokes that he does it to avoid having to ride the bike for extra conditioning -- a veteran move to be sure.

But more keep-away games will be a sign that not only are the Senators keeping the summer at bay, but the uncertain hockey future that lies ahead for their veteran captain.

Michael Grange is a columnist for sportsnet.ca and a senior writer at Sportsnet magazine.

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