Ottawa Senators confident as Battle of Ontario comes home

Ottawa Senator Drake Batherson speaks to the media at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Wednesday. His giveaway led to Toronto’s overtime goal in Game 2. ‘You live and you learn, you make a mistake and you learn from it,’ he said Wednesday. ‘Sometimes it’s the hard way. It cost us the game.’ Photo by Tony Caldwell /PostmediaArticle content

What, me worry?

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No chance.

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The Ottawa Senators retreated to their digs at the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday to get refocused and ready to host the first playoff game here since May 23, 2017, on Thursday night.

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Trailing the Battle of Ontario 2-0 after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena, the Senators put up a brave face despite the loss.

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We’re about to find out if there is no place like home for the Senators because the Leafs were one of the National Hockey League’s best road teams during the regular season, compiling a 25-13-3 record as the visitors.

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Captain Brady Tkachuk is confident the fans will be the seventh man this club needs to get back into this series.

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“There is not one ounce of panic or doubt in this locker room,” Tkachuk said after Max Domi scored the winner at 3:09 of OT to seal the win for Toronto. “This just shows how much we’re going to need the city and the CTC to be buzzing.

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“We’re looking forward to getting home, and honestly, there is not one ounce of panic.”

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Panic wouldn’t do anybody any good, but we all know the playoffs are no time for moral victories. The Senators are trying to grasp any positive they can, and who can blame them? It’s pointless to listen to the noise.

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Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green speaks to the media at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Wednesday. He sought Drake Batherson out after Game 2 to make sure that what took place prior to the winning goal didn’t linger. Photo by Tony Caldwell /PostmediaArticle content

Winger Drake Batherson was fingered with a lot of blame for his role in the winning goal by Domi. It started with Batherson’s giveaway to Simon Benoit and then finished with a misplay on Domi that allowed him to beat Linus Ullmark.

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Batherson didn’t run and hide on Wednesday when asked about the misplay. Instead, he took full responsibility.

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“You live and you learn, you make a mistake and you learn from it,” Batherson said Wednesday. “Sometimes it’s the hard way. It cost us the game. You live and you learn, and you’ve got to move on to the next one.

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“I definitely wish I could have that one back.”

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Coach Travis Green sought Batherson out after the game to make sure that what took place prior to the winning goal didn’t linger.

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“I grabbed Drake last night,” Green said. “You do live and learn, first of all, and it can eat you up. You want to make sure that he doesn’t dwell on it. It goes back to a lot of lessons we’ve learned this year: you can’t live in the past, you can learn from the past.