On Nov. 1, 2024, the Ottawa Senators headed to Madison Square Garden for a road game against the New York Rangers. The Rangers were one of the best teams in the NHL at the time.
The Rangers were a good early test for the Senators to see how good they could potentially be for the season. However, the game didn't go as the Senators were hoping for.
The Senators fell 2-1 in the game. Adam Gaudette scored the only goal in the loss with the Senators firing 41 shots on goal against Igor Shesterkin. But, what was said after the game by a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and a Rangers legend about the Senators, might not have been taken serious at the time, but those words are true today.
Senators were given high praise by Henrik Lundqvist for their intensity, now get ready for Game 1 of 2025 playoffs against Toronto
After losing to the Rangers on that Friday night in November, Hall of Fame goaltender and Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist gave the Senators high praise even in defeat.
"I haven't seen many teams play with THAT level of intensity," Lundqvist said after game.
At that time in November, the Senators were scratching to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017, and the Rangers were the defending President's Trophy champions eager to be a top contending team again.
Fans could've looked at Lundqvist's comments about the Senators at the time and could've shrugged it off. But now, Lundqvist's high praise for the Senators turned out to be a bold one that was legit.
The Senators are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017. Tonight, the Senators take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their opening series. What some could find even more shocking is while the Senators are back in the playoffs, the Rangers missed out on the playoffs the year after winning the President's Trophy.
This season has been a special one for the Senators with their intensity from players on the team. Captain Brady Tkachuk led the Senators with 228 hits despite missing 10 games this season. Tkachuk is never afraid to drop the gloves or get in the opponent's head.
Outside of Tkachuk, the Senators have six other players on the team that finished the season with over 100 hits. The Senators also had six players on the team with at least 90 blocked shots.
The Senators have also showed their intense play when it came to playing in overtime. Nine of the Senators' 45 wins this season came in overtime. Along with winning in overtime, the Senators showed intensity by clinching a spot in the 2025 playoffs when the team wasn't even in a playoff position when March arrived.
Excitement is buzzing all throughout Ottawa, but the time has come for the Senators to show that this season wasn't a fluke. Game 1 against the Maple Leafs will be a good test for the Senators to show the world what they're made of.