Series Matchups
- STANLEY CUP FINAL
- Carolina vs Edmonton
- ROUND THREE
- Western Conference
- Anaheim vs Edmonton
- Eastern Conference
- Carolina vs Buffalo
- ROUND TWO
- Western Conference
- San Jose vs Edmonton
- Anaheim vs Colorado
- Eastern Conference
- Ottawa vs Buffalo
- Carolina vs New Jersey
- ROUND ONE
- Western Conference
- Detroit vs Edmonton
- Dallas vs Colorado
- Calgary vs Anaheim
- Nashville vs San Jose
- Eastern Conference
- Ottawa vs Tampa Bay
- Carolina vs Montreal
- New Jersey vs NY Rangers
- Buffalo vs Philadelphia
|
VS |
|
| Ottawa wins the best-of-seven series 4-1 | ||
Ottawa (1)
Tampa Bay (8)
Senators advance to second round
The Ottawa Senators have ensured a different club will be sipping bubbly out of the Stanley Cup later this spring. » FULL STORY
Past Stories
- Tortorella turns to Burke in Game 5
- Senators poised to oust Lightning
- Senators respond to Murray
- Senators' Emery answering bell
- Senators strike back in Game 3
- St. Louis on a mission for Tampa
- Lightning strike in Ottawa
- Senators' Redden misses Game 2
- Senators surge past Lightning
- NHL teams ready to rumble
- Thrilling end to NHL regular season
- Senators' Hasek too hurt to play
TEAM ANALYSIS
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Key Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa Senators |
Much has been made of Ottawa's offensive proficiency, and with good reason: the Senators scored a league-high 312 goals in the regular season. And they're nearly as good at keeping the puck out of their own net. Despite the offseason departure of defensive-minded coach Jacques Martin and the loss of starting goalie Dominik Hasek to an injury sustained at the Olympics, the Senators under new coach Bryan Murray allowed the fewest goals in the East. |
It's hard to knock a team with an NHL-best goal differential that was 65 goals better than any other in the East, but goaltending could be an issue. Hasek's health remains questionable and it looks like Ottawa will have to, at least for a while, rely on rookie backup Ray Emery. The 23-year-old posted decent numbers this season (2.82 GAA, .902 SV%) but looked shaky down the stretch. Plus, Emery has exactly zero minutes of playoff experience and, well, he's no Hasek. |
Dany Heatley: Playing on a line with Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, Heatley racked up 50 goals to lead the league's most potent attack. But Senators GM John Muckler acquired the 25-year-old prior to the season in exchange for sniper Marian Hossa because he believed Heatley would be a more effective postseason performer. In a town that has experienced its share of premature playoff exits, Heatley will ultimately be judged on his play in the Stanley Cup tournament. |
| Tampa Bay Lightning |
The defending Stanley Cup champs boast a roster full of offensive talent. Vincent LeCavalier, Frederik Modin and Martin St. Louis each went over the 30-goal mark, while Brad Richards, Vaclav Prospal and LeCavalier all cracked the 75-point plateau. Tampa also proved to be better defensively than many believed, allowing the fewest shots on goal in the East. If the Lightning can awake from its season-long scoring slumber, it could be a force to be reckoned with. |
Despite returning virtually the same roster that won the Cup in 2004, the Lightning simply isn't scoring at the same breakneck pace as it did a season ago. In its title-winning campaign, Tampa Bay scored the third-most goals in the league; this season the team ranked 16th in scoring. Meanwhile, Tampa slid from 11th to 18th in goals against. The Lightning's special teams play has slipped as well, with its power-play and penalty-killing efficiency rankings falling, respectively, seven and 10 spots. |
Brad Richards: Despite winning the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP in 2004, Richards hasn't received the attention given to flashier teammates Vincent LeCavalier and Martin St. Louis. Richards, though, was Tampa Bay's highest-scoring player this season. The 25-year-old was the only Lightning player to average at least a point a game as he piled up a team-leading 91. Richards will be counted on to help the Lightning recapture the offensive spark of its Stanley Cup season. |
STATISTICS
| OTTAWA SENATORS GOALIES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | GA | SV% | GAA | ||||
| Ray Emery | 10 | 5 | 5 | 29 | .900 | 2.88 | |||
| Dominik Hasek | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.00 | |||
| OTTAWA SENATORS TOP SCORERS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | GW | |
| Jason Spezza | 10 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Martin Havlat | 10 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Dany Heatley | 10 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 1 |
| Wade Redden | 9 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Daniel Alfredsson | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| OTTAWA SENATORS INJURIES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dominik Hasek | groin | indefinitely |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING GOALIES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | GA | SV% | GAA | ||||
| Sean Burke | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .877 | 3.85 | |||
| John Grahame | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | .847 | 4.79 | |||
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING TOP SCORERS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | GW | |
| Brad Richards | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -5 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Ranger | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Martin St. Louis | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Dan Boyle | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Vincent Lecavalier | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING INJURIES | ||
|---|---|---|
| No Injuries were reported. |
Goalie statistics: GP=Games played, W=Wins, L=Losses, GA=Goals against, SV=Saves, SH=Shutouts, SV%=Save percentage, GAA=Goals-against average
Player statistics: GP=Games played, G=Goals, A=Assists, P=Points, +/-=Plus/Minus, PIM=Penalty Minutes, PP= Power-play goals, GW=Game-winning goals
Team statistics: GF=Goals for, GA=Goals against, PP= Power-play efficiency, PK= Penalty-killing efficiency. NB: Team statistics are from the 82-game regular season. Ranking is out of 30 teams.
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