Onto The Playoffs
As the Senators clinched the playoffs, and finished second in the division, it’s time to look at their deep playoff run, let’s start with the first round.
In the first round, the Ottawa Senators were matched up against the Boston Bruins, who finished the season in Third Place in the Atlantic Division, going 44-31-7 for 95 points. While the Senators were higher in regular-season standings, they were the underdog entering this series. Fun fact, it was their first series against one another since the 1927 Playoffs, in the Finals. The Senators would vanquish the Bruins in 6 games, where they would face off against the New York Rangers. I will summarize the round with this one clip:
One year ago on April 17, Erik Karlsson makes an incredible saucer pass to Mike Hoffman who then completes the play with one heck of a deke. #Sens pic.twitter.com/myczILIjce
— Sens Army (@Senators_Army) April 17, 2018
In the Second Round, the Sens would go against Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers. The Rangers would occupy one of two wildcard spots as they went 48-28-6 for 102 points. While the Senators would finish with a divisional spot and the Rangers with a wildcard spot, the Rangers were the clearcut favorites as Lundqvist made it his mission to push for a Stanley Cup. Ultimately, the Sens would eliminate the Rangers in 5 games.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Ottawa Senators would face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins, to which they would meet their demise. The Penguins were the defending Stanley Cup Champions, and were eagar to repeat and become the first team to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions since the Detroit Red Wings since 1997 and 1998. The Penguins had gone 50-21-11 for 111 points that season and would prove to be too much for the Senators. The series went to game 7 and would take until double OT for the inevitable series-clinching goal.
On this day in 2017 Chris Kunitz score the goal in game 7 of the Eastern conference finals to destroyed the sens franchise. pic.twitter.com/M3tUvxfnJ9
— Von hook (@Vonhook2) May 25, 2022
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Closing Thoughts
While I wish I could have concluded this historical revisit article with celebrating a Stanley Cup Win, the Senators, unfortunately, could not get the job done, but overall had an amazing season. Pierre Dorion would be a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, but ultimately would not win.