It goes without saying that game 4 is a "must-win" game. The Senators have to tie the series 2-2 before heading back to Pittsburgh or face a huge uphill battle. How can it be done? What have the Senators not done that they can try? Ask any infantry general: coming at the enemy's defenses in a way that is anticipated is a losing strategy. Surprise is the key, and there are a few things the Senators can do.



The Senators will have to rely heavily on coach Cory Clouston, and he in turn must have a few surprises up his sleeve for the Penguins. I would highly recommend an overall offensive strategy, but with rolling tactics. Here's what I mean.

Line changes

Clouston mentioned he would switch lines and that he did have Shawn Donovan and Jonathan Cheechoo available to play. Blogger Marty9 at HFBoards , suggested the following line-ups for tonight, which make a heck of a lot of sense.

        Cullen - Spezza - Regin
            Combine the struggling Spezza with the two best players thus far to revive him.
        Foligno - Fisher - Alfredsson
            Play against Crosby, either Fisher/Alfie shadow him AT ALL TIMES
        Ruutu - Kelly - Neil
            Play against Malkin's line, hopefully they can create any kind of offense in game 4
        Smith - Winchester - Donovan
            Hard line to play against, it has speed, can cycle and crash the net.

I agree with almost all these changes except one. I would skip on Donovan and insert Cheechoo. The main reason being that Cheechoo and Zack Smith have played together on the same line in Binghamton since February and have been pretty good together. They know each other's playing style and that kind of pre-existing chemistry is worth a lot.

Dump, chase and crash, but...
The Penguins have been doing a good job of denying the blue line to the Senators. The answer is to dump and chase as much as possible, and bring hard checks to the Pens D-men, forcing them to make rushed plays. The Senators need to live on offensive turnovers, and crash the net. Let's face it, Marc-André Fleury hasn't been that hot with a .882 save percentage. Let's shoot the puck more often and hunt the rebounds.

Once the Penguins are used to the dump and chase, switch tactics on them, and carry or pass the puck in. Or switch to a chip and chase style. What matters is that the Penguins must be reacting to the Senators offensive, and not know what's coming. Keeping them guessing is the key.

What the Senators will need
This is obviously an all-out offensive strategy by the Senators, which will leave the defense dangling a bit. What the Senators will need some solid defense. I'm not worried about the A-Train/Big Rig combo, but we do need a solid two-way game from Erik Karlsson, some very physical play by Andy Sutton, and an A+ game from Brian Elliott. With these pieces in place, I'll be happy with status quo from Carkner and Campoli. Without this, the Senators success on the offense can be offset by their failures on defense.

But there are no two ways about it. In a situation where the goal is a must-win to tie the series, risks must be taken to put the puck behind Fleury.

GO SENS GO!!