Playoff Autopsy Report: Ottawa Senators
Welcome to our newest feature, where we try to analyze what exactly went wrong for each team that has been eliminated from the postseason.
It was another strange year for the Senators. The league's streakiest team posted two losing streaks of five games, with an eleven game winning streak sandwiched in between. Nobody really knew what to expect of them in the playoffs, but what went wrong for them?
~Injuries, first and foremost. The team lost Filip Kuba, a dependable if boring defenseman, late in the season, then lost winger Alexei Kovalev in the next to last game of the season. It was the hope that getting winger Milan Michalek back might offset some of that, but he re-injured himself in the first game of the series.
~As will likely become a theme in this series, the team lacked scoring depth. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza were consistent, even if they didn't score, and youngster Peter Regin was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, Chris Kelly disappeared after Game One, and nobody else really stepped up on a consistent basis.
~A back end catastrophe. Ottawa demonstrated that an untested rookie and a washed-up backup is not the goalie tandem to enter the playoffs with. Elliot was sturdy if unspectacular in the first three games, but still stopped only 66 of 76 shots (.868 save percentage).
He got worse in Game Four, clearly never recovered mentally from the soft goals, and was lifted for Pascal Leclaire. Pascal was better, but not by much, making 125 saves in roughly 2 2/3 games, but still gave up 10 goals and couldn't bring the team back.
It's hard to say where the Sens go from here. Alfredsson and Spezza aren't getting any younger, and they could probably get to the second round next season with the exact same roster, but better balance is still a lost tool in Ottawa's repertoire, and it will keep them from legitimate success for the foreseeable future.
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