The Ottawa Senators currently trail their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0. It’s been an eventful first three games, with unlikely overtime heroes emerging, intense physicality and questionable officiating at times. Despite the Senators being on the verge of a sweep (which not many fans and pundits thought was a possibility), one could argue that they’ve played quite well and that the series should be closer as a result.
Two of the games have gone to overtime, they’ve controlled the run of play at times, and without some big saves from Anthony Stolarz, the narrative heading into Game 4 could be completely different. This begs the question: What will it be if the Maple Leafs do finish off the sweep Saturday night? Will the season be viewed as a success or as a failure?
Is Making the Playoffs Good Enough?
This is the Senators’ first trip to the postseason in eight years, and with their young core, hopefully the first of many to come in the ensuing years. The fanbase and organization have waited for this moment for a long time and have gone through plenty of turmoil since their last appearance. Just making it back is a huge accomplishment in itself, and while the Senators are a good team, they are not yet in that grouping of legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
Meanwhile, they are playing a much more experienced team in the Maple Leafs who have gone through their growing pains and appear to be much more composed. Still, the Senators have looked like the better team at times.
The series hasn’t been an egregious mismatch from a territorial standpoint, but it might be from a talent and maturity one. That’s something that the Senators might be able to benefit from in the future.
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Maybe eventually they can break through and plant a seed of doubt in the Maple Leafs’ minds, but if they don’t, does the achievement of making the playoffs get rendered moot?
The Positives of the Season
There have been plenty of positive aspects of this season regardless for the Senators.
For the first time in a while, they have been a team that displays an identity of being hardworking, defensive-minded and detail-oriented. Their underlying numbers improved considerably from years prior, and they were much better at holding leads late in games.
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They also received many standout performances from their young talent. One of whom was Jake Sanderson who had a career season, putting up 57 points while teaming up with Artem Zub to form one of the best shutdown pairs in the league. Not to mention, he’s only 22 years old and under contract until 2032 at a cap hit of just over $8 million.
There’s also Brady Tkachuk, who hasn’t been all that impactful in this series, but thrived on the big stage at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He was a huge factor for Team USA, nearly leading his country to victory and appearing as comfortable as can be in his first real high-stakes series of games.
The Senators also boast players who, without a doubt, play a game that is well-suited for playoff hockey, such as Ridly Greig and Drake Batherson, and they have displayed that throughout the course of this series.
The Negatives of the Season
While there are encouraging signs with this group, there are reasons why they find themselves on the brink of elimination, the biggest of which is their inability to score at 5-on-5.
The Senators finished second last in the league in goals and third last in shooting percentage at 5-on-5 in the regular season, and that problem has carried over to the playoffs. That will no doubt have to be a priority for management to address in the offseason as there are not many players beyond Stutzle and Tkachuk who are big-time goal scorers.
They could also use some more depth on the blue line as the team does not possess much of it once you get past Sanderson and Zub. Defensive coverage at times has been a problem in this series, both at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill which has been a huge contributing factor to the deficit the Senators find themselves in.
How Should the Season Be Viewed?
The Senators should be proud of themselves and hold their heads up high, no matter how the rest of this series unfolds. They’ve put up a good fight as an outmatched team, accomplished what they set out to do for this season, and have a bright future ahead. If they play their cards right in the offseason, they can be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
It will be a humbling experience no doubt to get swept, but they can only learn and be better off in future playoffs as a result and will now have a clearer picture of what areas of the roster need to be fixed. While it might be a disappointing end, the season should be considered anything but a failure.
