Well, the Sens lost, though not before putting the fear of God into Leafs fans one last time. Thoughts, reactions:
- I don’t know what the odds said, but I’d imagine Leafs in 6 was the median expected outcome entering the series. Of all the ways to get there, this one was the most fun. Winning Games 3 and 5 wouldn’t have given the Sens as high a high. This isn’t a spin zone—the Sens lost to their biggest rival in a playoff series it felt like they could’ve won—but in terms of possible outcomes, this was better than a little more than half of them.
- I don’t mean this as disrespect to Brady Tkachuk, but Jake Sanderson is really good. It’s easy to be too optimistic about the Sens’ future, given how tough the Atlantic Division is and how aggressively the NHL’s salary cap dynamics punish teams once they get competitive, but Sanderson is the guy most worth getting excited about. Combined, he and Tkachuk and Stützle are a great group to rally around.
- How injured was Tkachuk? How much was he playing through? It seemed more noticeable early in the series (that might’ve had to do with when I did and didn’t have the TV muted), but it was a pretty big deal at the end of the regular season. Curious what we’ll learn there.
- Tkachuk is everything Sens fans could have hoped he could be, and more than Sens fans could have ever asked him to be. Played through pain, never backed down, didn’t blink when the Sens traded his longtime best friend at the trade deadline, then left the ice in tears last night. The Ottawa Senators are Brady Tkachuk.
- Is the NHL going to reach a point where teams stop paying for goalies because they’re too volatile? Are goalies relief pitchers? Love Linus Ullmark, and he rallied well, but there are two ways to interpret these playoff series flipping on a few select saves or goals: One, taken to its furthest conclusion, says goalies are priceless. The other says they’re worth nothing.
- Shane Pinto’s getting extended, right? They’re going to find a way to make that happen? I’m not ready to say goodbye to Shane Pinto after next year.
- Tyler Kleven’s emergence was huge.
- I can’t believe Thomas Chabot’s only 28. Once upon a time, I was hoping he’d be the LHD to leave instead of Jakob Chychrun. But even if D.J. Smith did run him into the ground and leave him often less than what he should be, it was fun that he had such a big series. That Game 5 goal meant a lot.
- Again, I don’t know how optimistic Sens fans should be, and I say that as a guy who can be a lot more carefree than most Sens fans, considering I got into this as a bit and only got into it five years ago. (It’s real now, baby!) But excitement is going to be through the roof in October, and that’s rewarding in and of itself. There were times when it looked like the Sens might fumble this group and never get this far. Long way to go, but making progress.
- One last thought on the Atlantic: Not to be an SEC fan, but what if the Atlantic is the best division in hockey by a mile, and the Leafs or Panthers just roll through the rest of the league? I don’t really want that to be the case—I’d rather the Atlantic suck by way of every non-Sens team in the Atlantic sucking—but it’d give me a reason to hate Gary Bettman and complain about the playoff format, which I don’t need but would probably enjoy.
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