By Joce, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

Heading into this series against the Ottawa Senators, few were predicting an easy series, whether they picked the Sens or the Habs to move on to the next round. The fact that Ottawa was in the playoffs in spite of the injuries suffered to key players was a win in itself for this organization and head coach Paul MacLean has been receiving a lot of praise for it, deservedly so.

PENTICTON, BC. — There has never been a huge rivalry between the two teams, at least not like the ones the Canadiens have with the Maple Leafs and the Bruins. This is due in most part to the fact that the two teams had never faced each other in the playoffs, where true rivalries are being built in a seven-game series. It only took one game into the very first series to change that situation however.

After a first game which saw Habs’ center Lars Eller in a pool of blood and being wheeled off the ice on a stretcher, the Senators rallied in the third period after being totally dominated, to steal a win in Montreal. The hit by Senators’ defenseman Eric Gryba unfortunately became the focal point of the game, overshadowing an outstanding performance by Sens’ goalie Craig Anderson and the rivalry ignited. In his post-game press conference, coach MacLean, trying to defend the culprit of the hit, pretended not to know the name of “player 61,” a guy who plays over 20-minutes a game, and in the eyes of Michel Therrien and the Habs’ players, he didn’t show any compassion for Lars Eller and any respect for Eller, his family or Raphael Diaz.

As if it wasn’t enough, later that night, instead of focussing on the Senators’ win and on Anderson’s stellar game, Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun tweeted the next morning’s cover page of the newspaper he writes for, with a picture of Eller lying in a bloody pool, with the headline: First Blood Sens. This drew the ire of Habs and even Sens’ fans everywhere, for its poor taste and lack of class. Other media outlets disapproved of that headline. Garrioch and his employer have lost a lot of respect in the process, including from yours truly.

As the teams were back at it 24-hours later, Habs’ head coach Michel Therrien snapped at his counterpart MacLean, accusing him of showing no compassion and saying that he will never tolerate his lack of respect. Tough guy Brandon Prust went further with his now famous quote: “We don’t really care about what that bug-eyed, fat walrus has to say!”

The war is on, and MacLean knows it. I don’t think that his intention was to ignite an additional fire under the Habs as had it not been for a counter-performance by Carey Price and because of his own goaltender’s heroics, the Sens would have been creamed in game one. The Habs certainly didn’t need that extra boost and the Sens’ coach knew it. Even without Eller, Max Pacioretty and team captain Brian Gionta, the energy and focus was palpable around the Canadiens, who had fire in their eyes from this whole situation.

Later in the day, the NHL announced that Gryba was suspended for two games. Shanahan did explain his decision by saying that the principal area of contact was the head, and that the Senators’ defenseman could have (or should have) taken more of the body instead. People are split on the decision but what’s done is done and both teams had to move on.

With the emphasis being placed on the Gryba hit and on his own comments, fearing that the series could turn nasty, Paul MacLean chose to dress tough guy Matt Kassian at the expense of skilled rookie Cory Conacher, who had a decent first game. Kassian even saw over 10-minutes of ice time in game two, something that Michel Therrien certainly won’t complain about, as his team often was allowed to put sustained pressure into the Senators’ zone while Ottawa’s tough guy was on the ice. So in the war of words, Michel Therrien and the Habs are ahead 1-0, especially considering that the Canadiens were without three key offensive pieces, replaced by grinders in the line-up, and the series now being tied at one a piece.

This series now shifts to Ottawa on Sunday and Tuesday, a place known to be a hot bed for Habs’ fans. While we know that Eller won’t be there, the status of Pacioretty and Gionta remains to be determined. What we do know however, it’s that MacLean and his Sens will have the last changes and that they will want to dictate the pace more than what they’ve shown in the two games in Montreal. The Senators do have one of the best records in the league on home ice.

We also know that Paul MacLean is unlikely to add oil to the fire. Go Habs Go!