OTTAWA — A season with so many twists and turns for the Ottawa Senators ultimately ended abruptly in a sweep.
It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
A sweep at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes leaves plenty of off-season question marks for the Senators.
“Heartbreaking,” captain Brady Tkachuk said, on the verge of tears after Saturday’s 4-2 defeat.
All season there was “outside noise” surrounding Tkachuk and Linus Ullmark, and multiple key injuries, particularly on defence — yet the Senators battled through it.
The character cannot be criticized, but the team’s future is uncertain.
When the Senators entered the playoffs, there was a belief that anything could happen.
Little did we know that it meant everything would go against them — some self-inflicted wounds, but also more injuries and brutal puck luck
“It was a lot closer than how it ended,” said Drake Batherson.
“We probably played a lot better than last year … even though we lost four in a row,” said head coach Travis Green, whose team lost in six games to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round last year.
Ottawa never took a lead in a game in the series, so it wasn’t quite as positive as some Senators made it out to be.
But the injuries definitely played a role in the defeat
“Having (Jake) Sanderson and (Artem) Zub would have been a world of difference … (But it’s) a lot of ifs,” said Green. “(We) played 10 defensemen in the first four games of the playoff series, which I don’t know if I’ve heard of that, and we lost every game by (one or two goals).”
The Senators were in every game and losing Sanderson, Zub and Tyler Kleven for a time made it an unfair fight against an elite Hurricanes team. It’s as much an explanation as an excuse.
The Senators were never fully manned for a single game, while Carolina missed only Nikolaj Ehlers — and just for Game 4.
“They were probably 55-45 per cent on controlling goals and space and time. But I think that number would have been a lot different if we had some of our players in the lineup,” said Green.
At the same time, none of that explains the woeful Senators power play.
Tkachuk said the power play cost them Game 3. Well, in Game 4 they had two five-on threes with zero goals. They converted on just one of nine chances on the power play in Game 4. That put them one-for-21 in the series.
The Senators never adjusted to Carolina’s extremely aggressive penalty kill. We will quietly mention that Daniel Alfredsson, the greatest Senator ever, runs the team’s power-play units. If it was anyone else, the heat around the coaching would be much, much louder.
The Sens’ offensive stars, Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle, barely registered in the series. Stutzle had a single assist. Tkachuk never showed up on the score sheet.
Green called them “average” after Game 3 — not a compliment. He got defensive about his captain’s play in Game 4.
“I thought he was fine. I think you must think differently, if you keep asking me that,” Green said. “But I thought tonight he was physical. He played well. There wasn’t a lot of time and space. Much like (Andrei) Svechnikov or (Seth) Jarvis, I don’t know if they’re getting asked the same questions or not.
“This series for a skilled player was not going to be easy,” Green continued. “Sometimes you just got to hit a single, sometimes you just got to get on base is kind of the best way to put it.”.
Maybe the biggest disappointment was Stutzle, who never found a way through Carolina’s incessant pressure.
If Stutzle and Tkachuk raised their game, the Sens would have at least earned a Game 5.
If you didn’t hear anything about the series and were told that through four games, Sebastian Aho, Svechnikov and Jarvis had scored one goal between them (excluding empty netters) and Linus Ullmark had a .932 save percentage, you might ask whether the Sens managed to sweep.
But not only did Ottawa’s stars struggle; their second- and third-line centres were outclassed by Jordan Staal and Logan Stankoven.
Stankoven, Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall were the difference, scoring seven of Carolina’s nine goals from open play. Staal shut down Stutzle. But Carolina’s first line didn’t produce one goal all series.
However, Dylan Cozens got dropped from Ottawa’s first power-play unit, and Shane Pinto’s line was caved in after dominating opponents all season.
The Senators’ best chance came in Game 2, but they fell victim to a hot Frederik Andersen and some really bad bounces.
If there was a bright spot in the series, it was that Ullmark played some of his best hockey of what had been for him a very up-and-down season, interrupted with a mental-health leave. His elevation gives real belief that the Senators are in a good spot between the pipes next season.
“This playoffs, even down the stretch, he looked like a goalie that you envision winning a Vezina, that you envision that you can win a Stanley Cup with. He was exceptional,” said Green.
Ullmark’s play in the playoffs settles one off-season question mark, but many more are around the corner.
Many questioned his engagement this season. But despite his lack of production in the playoff series, his physical play, both hits and fights, suggested he was all in.
Not to mention how emotional he was in defeat.
“(We all wanted) to win a Stanley Cup and everyone believed that in here, and for it to be this tight of a series and not go away every game, it’s really tough,” Tkachuk said.
Nevertheless, he was a major disappointment this series.
Tkachuk is now two years away from unrestricted free agency. His future and the chatter around him will hang over the team until he’s signed to an extension, is traded or walks away from the nation’s capital.
Next season could even be a last dance of sorts for this core.
The future of the captain affects whether the Senators try to extend Zub and Batherson, who are integral parts of this franchise. Batherson was the Senators’ best forward against Carolina, producing four points in four games. We are inclined to believe Batherson would like to stay if the price is right. Meanwhile, the breakout story of the Senators season, Jordan Spence, needs a new contract as a restricted free agent.
Does general manager Steve Staios go all-in after a crushing sweep? Does he keep the group together? Does he make big changes or only tweaks?
Typically when a team is swept, there’s nothing positive to say, but maybe it’s not that simple in this case.
They are difficult questions after a peculiar season — especially as the Atlantic will only be better with the likes of Buffalo, Boston, Florida and Montreal all on the upswing.
Does the GM rely on the Senators’ sparkling analytics, and put the disappointing end to the season down to unfortunate injuries? Or does he look for drastic changes to a team that underperformed in the playoffs?
It’s clear that with only five goals in four playoff games, the Senators have a finishing problem.
Their window for success ostensibly included the 2025-26 season. In the end, the Senators went out quicker in the first round than they did last year
But the coach was not making too much of that.
“You don’t say that very often when you lose 4-0, but, after last year, I felt like, ‘OK, we’ve taken some steps’, said Green. “And then after this year, I feel like we’ve taken a lot more steps.”
What the nine-day playoff odyssey brings to Ottawa is more questions than answers.