The Ottawa Senators endured another disappointing first-round playoff exit on Saturday. The Sens dropped a 4-2 decision, allowing the Carolina Hurricanes to complete the sweep.
Unlike last season, the Sens could not extend the series. This year, it was four games and out. It was a bitter ending to one heck of a run to just make the playoffs.
Questions emerge about what’s next.
For starters, the club will need time to decompress. That’s par for the course whenever any team ends its playoff participation.
But in the Senators’ case, decompressing involves dealing with a sense of emptiness following another missed opportunity. Questions will emerge on what the Senators need to do to get over the hump.
One of the most evident issues is scoring. The Sens will need to target scoring this offseason. Ottawa managed just five goals in four games. While the Senators were hardly blown out, five goals in four games aren’t going to beat anybody unless you’re planning to win every game 1-0.
So, where do the Senators go from here?
It will be an offseason of questions that the organization will need to address. While we’ll have plenty of time to delve into these issues in the coming weeks, scoring will invariably come up as a major focal point.
Depth, goaltending, and even toughness should all be offseason storylines. There doesn’t seem to be any turmoil at an organizational level. But you have to think that questions will also emerge about Travis Green being the right coach for this team.
The bottom line, at least after seeing the outcome of this first-round series, is that the Senators ran out of gas. They floored it towards the end of the regular season. By the time they hit the playoffs, they were completely gassed.
Senators fans should be proud of what the club was able to accomplish this season. More still needs to be done. Nevertheless, there is a good foundation to build on moving forward.
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