Ryan grateful Sens still alive: 'This team just wants to be around each other'

Bobby Ryan desperately wanted to go back to Pittsburgh. Not only did he get his wish, he did his part.

The 30-year-old continued his stellar playoffs Tuesday, scoring a much needed power-play goal for Ottawa, which tied Game 6 against the Penguins 1-1. Mike Hoffman would score the winner, forcing a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Final. And that's all Ryan wanted:

The Senators have been a team in every sense of the word this season, rallying around each other despite personal challenges faced by Craig Anderson, whose wife was diagnosed with cancer in the fall, and Clarke MacArthur, whose career was thought to be in jeopardy, but who came back and eliminated the Boston Bruins in the first round.

It was a trying season for Ryan, too, the four-time 30-goal scorer finishing with only 13 goals and 12 assists in what was by far the worst statistical season of his career.

But as Ryan wrote last week on The Players' Tribune, this Senators outfit, while not so different from other ones, is actually different. Because it is and always has been about the team, not personal statistics, from day one. Ryan and his numbers are the perfect example.

This has been a fun ride so far, but I think this team still has a lot left in the tank. This is the moment we’ve been preparing for all year, and now that it’s here, we feel ready.

I mean, why not us?

Why not now?

The underdog Sens, doubted all season and all playoffs, are one win away from the Stanley Cup Final. And you know Ryan wants nothing more than to play hockey in June.