  The Senators are considering popping Jonathan Cheechoo into the lineup for Game 4 on Tuesday night in Ottawa. (OTTAWA SUN file photo) |
OTTAWA - - Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Down 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first round playoff series with Game 4 Tuesday at Scotiabank Place, the Senators could be ready to insert Binghamton callup Jonathan Cheechoo into the series.
Sent to Binghamton before the Olympic break, Cheechoo had only 5-9-14 points during the 61 games he played with the Senators this season. That doesn’t seem to matter to the Senators, who are willing to try anything to get steal back some momentum from the Penguins in this series.
“(He’d bring) some experience. At one time, he was a very prolific goal scorer,” said Senators coach Cory Clouston, who held an optional skate on Monday. “We saw glimpses of that this year and he’s a competitor. He’s an intelligent player.
"If you’re asking me if he’s playing tomorrow, I won’t answer that until tomorrow. Those are definitely considerations.”
The Senators can’t afford to get down 3-1 or it could be lights out for them. The Senators are coming off a 4-2 loss in Game 3 at home.
The Senators have to find a way to stop centre Sidney Crosby, who has two goals and five assists so far in this series.
“There’s some areas where we need to be better, but I don’t think we need any major changes,” said Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson. “Tomorrow is a big game. If we win tomorrow, we’re right back in it. If we lose tomorrow, we’ve dug ourselves a deep hole.
"We look at tomorrow’s game as our chance to gain momentum in the series and go from there.”
