OTTAWA \u2014 In a series with two evenly matched teams, one player can make the difference.<\/p>\n
Kleven\u2019s been out for two weeks after taking a puck to the face (it\u2019s suspected he broke his jaw). The rugged defenceman hadn\u2019t skated with Ottawa since then, but did on Friday.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d become a pivotal part of why the Senators surged into a playoff spot, especially when Jake Sanderson<\/a> and Thomas Chabot went down.<\/p>\n The longer Kleven is out, the larger the challenge the Senators will face.<\/p>\n Head coach Travis Green didn’t rule him out for Game 1, but it seems unlikely he plays Saturday in Carolina. <\/p>\n “He’s closer to playing, obviously, he’s out with the group,” Green said. <\/p>\n Kleven was in a non-contact jersey in Friday\u2019s practice while taking line rushes with Lassi Thomson.<\/p>\n On Friday in practice, Kleven was hit in the jaw in a little collision and looked to be in serious pain, but continued practising. If the jaw is sore after an innocuous play in practice, it seems like a question mark how soon he\u2019ll be ready to return.<\/p>\n The area where the Senators could get exposed \u2014 particularly early in the series if Kleven is out \u2014 is their bottom defensive pair. In practice on Friday, the duo of Dennis Gilbert and Nikolas Matinpalo looked set to be that pair. Both had been healthy scratched more than etched into the Senators’ lineup card this season. The two have combined for six playoff games of experience. Neither is a good puck mover, and they face a super-speedy and possession-based Carolina team. You make a bad breakout, and you might be spending loads of time defending.<\/p>\n Kleven\u2019s eventual return would create a (good) conundrum, as Kleven and Jordan Spence have been excellent, with the second-highest expected goals share of any pair in the league this season. But that would leave Chabot without an obvious partner. Maybe he\u2019d play with Matinpalo, though the two of them have shared just 67 minutes together in their careers.<\/p>\n With how deep Carolina is, the Senators cannot afford to have an obvious weak link. Watch for Carolina to pounce on Gilbert and Matinpalo.<\/p>\n Two teams emulating each other<\/p>\n Sanderson said this version of the Senators is a better team than last year\u2019s. Analytically, they are, as are they points-wise. Yet the Hurricanes pose a difficult challenge as the best team in the East.<\/p>\n Both the Senators and Hurricanes love to suppress their opponent\u2019s shots and are stifling defensively.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s going to be not many chances on both sides. It\u2019s going to be a chess match,\u201d said Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.<\/p>\n Carolina has the edge in every statistical category, but only marginally. Canes are first in shots against, Sens are third. Canes are first in shots per game, Sens are eighth. Carolina and Ottawa are ranked two and three, respectively, in five-on-five expected goals share.<\/p>\n But Carolina hasn\u2019t faced the same type of adversity the Senators have, like injuries or the mental and physical challenges of playing playoff hockey for the last two months to get in.<\/p>\n The Senators have done a good impersonation of the Hurricanes, but will their impersonation overtake the original?<\/p>\n Chabot called the Hurricanes the best team in the Eastern Conference on Friday and said the pressure was on them. <\/p>\n The gamesmanship has already begun.<\/p>\n Carolina also has the edge over the Senators in playoff experience after making the Conference Final in two of the last three seasons. To a man, the Senators admitted they were a fish out of ice water against Toronto in Game 1 last post-season.<\/p>\n \u201cThink first game last year, we’re a bit overwhelmed, in a sense, and it kind of showed. But I think this year we’ll have a good mindset going into that first game,\u201d said Shane Pinto.<\/p>\n That first game was the difference last year; we will see if the Sens have learned from their mistakes.<\/p>\n Importance of Sanderson and Zub<\/p>\n