Playoff Era Senators

OTTAWA, ON

The nations capital is quiet once again after the Senators were knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the hands of their rivals from Toronto. The second round exit was considered a success by most followers of the team, and it seems management was reasonably satisfied with the team’s performance. This season marked the first playoff appearance during GM Noddan’s tenure. Despite an aging core, Noddan hopes this is a sign of things to come and that the Senators will stay competitive for years to come. 

**Round 1 - Florida Panthers**

In the first round, Ottawa faced the Florida Panthers. Earning home ice advantage in the series on a tiebreaker point earned on the very last day of the season. The Panthers looked to be favoured on paper, with most analysts picking them to advance. Led by superstar Nathan MacKinnon, there’s no denying the elite skill of the top end of Florida’s lineup. Their most frequent top line of Panarin - MacKinnon - Stutzle might be the best in the league, and Sens’ coach Pete DeBoer needed to have a plan to shut them down for Ottawa to have any hope of advancing. 

To counter the overloaded Panthers’ lineup, Coach DeBoer leveraged the defensive strength throughout Ottawa’s lineup to stifle scoring chances no matter who was on the ice. Anze Kopitar and Evgeni Malkin were split up at even strength despite playing together all season, and Nick Foligno was elevated to the top line to add more grit and defensive awareness. Veteran centre Jordan Staal and deadline acquisition Alex Wennberg joined forces to anchor a smothering fourth line and to lead the penalty group that would finish 3rd best in the playoffs. 

This defensive focus proved extremely effective, and the Senators held the MacKinnon line to a single goal all series and a combined -12. Ottawa won the first three games, then dropped game four before finishing the Panthers off on home ice in 5 games. However, the Sens only managed 11 goals in the series, a worryingly low goal scoring pace that plagued the team all season and would prove to be their downfall in the next round. 

**Round 2 - Toronto Maple Leafs**

The Senators’ victory over Florida set up a highly anticipated second round Battle of Ontario. Toronto led the Atlantic division for most of the season and had a very deep lineup, thanks largely to the Leafs trading away four (4!) first round picks since September. Those win-now trades effectively gave the Leafs 3 first lines that would be much harder to shut down. 

Nevertheless, the Sens faced their rival bravely, splitting the first 4 games 2-2 and making a statement that they belonged among the 8 best teams in the league. Toronto would go on to win back to back one-goal games in game 5 and game 6 to clinch the series in front of the disappointed Ottawa faithful. Aside from a painful 6-1 blowout in game 3, the other 5 games were all decided by a one goal margin. A few luckier bounces and it definitely could have been Ottawa moving on. 

Ultimately, two rounds and six playoff wins was perhaps more than most fans expected at the start of the season. Though cut short, this playoff run sparked new energy in Ottawa and everyone hopes this a sign of things to come. 
 

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