Five Post-Elimination Thoughts For Friday

Well, this sucks.

We knew the Sens were underdogs in the playoffs, but losing still stinks, especially after they sucked us back in with that almost-reverse-sweep.

We’re all going to have a lot to say about this series in the coming weeks and months, especially after we find out how the rest of the playoffs go for the Leafs. There will be time for more in-depth analysis, but for now, some quick thoughts immediately post-elimination.

They made it close

“At least the games were close” doesn’t get you anywhere in the playoffs, and rarely does it provide any comfort. If you say it too many times, you start to sound like DJ Smith in November, or the Leafs on locker room cleanout day. But in this one case I’ll allow it.

This team was hot garbage in game 1, but two of their losses were in overtime and the other was basically by one goal. The ultimate result of the series feels pretty accurate to how it went: it was a close series, and the Leafs were slightly better. But not by as much as people expected them to be!

There are a lot of ways you can spin the narrative of the series. You can say they never played that well but the Leafs almost defeated themselves. You can say that almost every game was a toss-up and the Sens just didn’t get lucky enough times. I prefer this narrative: it took the Sens 4 games to get their legs under them. By the time they did, they’d dug themselves into too deep a hole. If the almost-reverse-sweep in 2015 taught me anything, it’s that you can’t complain about bad luck when you put yourself in a position where one unlucky bounce ends your season (I still complain about the quick whistle, to be clear, but at least I’m self-aware about it). This team learned how to play in the playoffs, and hey, they got 6 games of practice instead of 4. They’ll be more ready next year.

They showed a lot of fight

I said on the podcast last week that I’ve been worried about this team’s ability to get it done when it matters for the last 4 years. As much as we hype up the Sens’ stars as big game players, until this year they hadn’t shown an ounce of fight when they needed to. No ability to come back when they were down in a game. Couldn’t string more than two consecutive wins together. Completely crumbled the moment they faced a bit of adversity. Not exactly a winning formula!

This series quieted those fears for me. This Sens team erased multiple two goal deficits, they clawed their way back into a series that was supposed to be out of reach, and they even got themselves an OT winner! Maybe they do have that dawg in them after all.

Also! One thing I noticed was their ability to adjust their game 

Through games 1 and 2 - and honestly to a lesser extent 3 and 4 - Ottawa looked plainly outmatched. In the offensive zone, they were letting the Leafs’ defensemen push them to the outside and break up their passes. In the defensive zone, they couldn’t keep up with Toronto’s forwards. And let’s not even talk about the penalty kill. You can say all you want about the Leafs crumbling under pressure, but if the Sens had continued to play like that, this series would have been over in 4 or 5. Instead, they made the adjustments they had to. They looked at what hadn’t worked in the first 4 games, and they addressed things.

That’s why I had so much hope after game 5. It wasn’t so much the score - which we all know made the game look a lot more lopsided than it really was - but the way the team played. They were getting to the net, something we hadn’t really seen them do until that game. They appeared to have completely figured out how to shut down Toronto’s powerplay. And of course, Ullmark was on his game. Being able to make those changes during a series is a really important part of playoff hockey, where you get a lot of chances to figure out how your opponent plays. Game 6 wasn’t quite as good, but the improvement was still there. The fact they were able to do that bodes well for the Sens’ chances in the playoffs for years to come.

The stars were the stars

It took them a few games to show up, but when the comeback started, the guys you wanted leading the way were the ones leading the way. Tkachuk was very obviously playing injured but still put up points. Stützle looked great, especially in game 6. Chabot was a beast. Sanderson was unreal. Those are exactly the players you need to be good in the playoffs.

The Third Pairing… didn’t suck?

One of the most shocking developments of this playoff series was the emergence of the third pairing as a key contributor. Going into the playoffs, the consensus was that Ottawa had the two best defensemen in the series in Chabot and Sanderson but would be vulnerable with their third pairing on the ice. In the Elite Sens Brain x Zubcast playoff preview episode, we all agreed that Kleven was the player most likely to draw the ire of Sens fans. We could not have been more wrong.

So far, Kleven’s most memorable play was batting the puck out of midair late in game 4. If not for him, the whole series is over right there. He saved a few other goals too, and was generally battling in front of his net. The third pairing as a whole has not been the liability we expected it to be. In fact, Natural Stat Trick gives them the best xGF% of the three main pairings, and their other possession numbers are perfectly respectable, too.

But let’s talk about who did suck

It can’t be all positivity here. The fact is that one of the many reasons the Sens lost the series was because several key players were straight up bad. Batherson was directly responsible for the game 2 overtime winner and for most of the series could be counted on to make the worst possible decision every time he had the puck. Just an awful showing for someone who was supposed to be one of this team’s best players.

Batherson’s linemate Cozens had one great moment with his shorthanded goal, but outside of that was pretty much invisible. That was especially disappointing given how well he had played down the stretch. Let’s hope he’s just a streaky player and will be ready to go next time around.

Finally, Jensen ended up being the only real liability in that defense lineup. He was brought in to be a steady defensive presence for Chabot but instead ended up getting burned defensively many, many times.

Cozens I am maybe willing to give a bit more grace because we don’t know him that well yet, but if I’m Steve Staois and I’m tasked with figuring out how to improve the team before next year, I’m at least taking a look at the other two.

Bonus: Go Charge?

If you're ready to get hurt again, the Charge have once again decided to wait until their final game of the season to clinch a playoff spot. They're one point ahead of Minnesota, with both teams having one game left. Ottawa has the tiebreaker, which is regulation wins. They can clinch with a win of any kind, or if Minnesota loses in any fashion. Make sure to tune in at noon tomorrow.