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The Beasts from the East have been tamed.

The Ottawa Senators are going back north with their tails between their legs after Wednesday's 1-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim was a mere –125 chalk at home, down from –140 in the opener. The public may have been expecting a better performance from Ottawa after Monday's 3-2 loss. They didn't get one. (More Stanley Cup NHL hockey odds from Bodog Sportsbook.)

The "rust" excuse from Game 1 just doesn't hold water anymore. The Ducks were all over the Senators in Game 2 like white on rice. Ottawa mustered only 16 shots on goal, barely testing Jean-Sebastien Giguere. At the other end of the ice, Ray Emery was a rock, stopping 30 of 31 shots in a losing effort. Samuel Pahlsson finally solved Emery with less than six minutes left in the game.

Anaheim's size advantage was prominent on Wednesday. The Ducks out-hit the Sens 36-28, forcing the Senators to commit an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers. Ottawa doesn't usually get pushed around like this, which leads to the central plotline for Game 3: Did the Senators fail to bring their A-game to Anaheim, or did the Ducks beat it out of them?

I think it's the first – although that doesn't guarantee anything for the Senators once they get back home. "For some reason, we're playing differently than the way we've played," defenseman Joe Corvo told reporters after Game 2. "We have to find a way to get that feeling back."

Either Corvo is being cryptic, or he really doesn't know what the Senators should do about it. But they've got until Saturday to figure it out. I suspect Bryan Murray will adjust for Game 3 by throwing speed at the Ducks, rather than try to match them hit-for-hit like they did Wednesday. That's like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

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