If you talk to your average school teacher, the focus of their students is never lower than the day before the holidays. That same challenge still applies to grown men at the NHL level, where the excitement of an extended Olympic break can creep into a dressing room long before the final bell rings.
For Senators head coach Travis Green and Flyers bench boss Rick Tocchet, keeping their players locked in for one more night will be priority number one as Ottawa plays at Philadelphia in the final night of hockey before the league shuts down for three weeks.
At his game day availability, Tocchet started to go down the road of hoping that the Senators might fall victim to holiday daydreaming, but then caught himself.
“Well, this is the last game before the break,” Tocchet said. “You’re always aware, you’re concerned that guys minds are somewhere else.
“If the other team is… I think Travis will have his team ready to play. But what I’m saying is sometimes they’ve got their minds already on where they’re going (during the break).”
Tocchet even mentioned how Sidney Crosby, known for his mental focus, has taken advantage of distracted opponents in games like this. He said in games before the All-Star break, Crosby is one of the leading point-getters of all time.
Green was also asked about the break by Senators host Jackson Starr and how big would it be to enter the break with a win.
“Yeah, I mean every point from here on in is gonna be big,” Green said. “We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves. We just want to concentrate on tonight’s game. Our group’s got a lot of belief in their game. We need to bring it tonight.”
The one degree of NHL separation is certainly in play for the two head coaches. They both played the game with edge and were teammates for a season in Phoenix and Green clearly has respect for Thursday’s opposing coach.
“Well, Toc’s done a great job,” Green said. “You can see their structure has been solid. It’s steadily progressing. They don’t give you a lot. You gotta work for everything you get. These are two teams that have pretty similar structure throughout their game. It’s gonna be a good battle tonight.”
The two clubs are tied in the standings with a points percentage of .545, but as if to illustrate the Senators’ misfortunes this season, Ottawa is 18 goals better than the Flyers in the team goal differential category.
The Senators have a chance to sweep the season series with Philly, although both games were super close. The Sens came away with victories of 2-1 in October and 3-2 in overtime in November.
After James Reimer gave up 4 goals on 18 shots in a 4-3 loss to Carolina, the Senators turn back to starter Linus Ullmark on Thursday night. Dan Vladar will start for the Flyers. Game time is 7 pm at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on TSN5 and RDS.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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