OTTAWA — Chants of “we want playoffs” were raining down at Canadian Tire Centre as the Ottawa Senators picked up their fifth straight win.
Much like the players, the fans in the nation’s capital are desperate for some post-season action.
Drake Batherson ended a 10-game scoreless drought with a pair of goals and picked up an assist in the Senators' 6-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday. The victory helps Ottawa tighten its grip on the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Ottawa (35-25-5) has a five-point lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets (31-26-8), who have the second wild-card.
It’s been seven years since the Senators last made the playoffs, and most of Ottawa’s core has yet to experience that excitement. However, they are playing with a determination that, barring a catastrophic collapse, should finally end that drought.
“I mean, day-to-day, it's a lot easier coming into the rink when you're having success and winning hockey games,” said Batherson. “It's a lot of fun.
"We know how tight the standings are right now, and I think we're all enjoying playing in these types of games, so we're excited for the games to come.”
Batherson was relieved to finally score a goal. The timing couldn’t have been better as his parents and grandparents were on hand to cheer him on.
“It was awesome,” said Batherson. “Mom made me some home-cooked meals yesterday, so she's probably going to take all the credit for that.”
Linus Ullmark made 22 saves against his former team for the win in net for the Senators.
Ullmark, who allowed three goals on eight shots, came up huge late in the second with a diving glove save on Mason Lohrei that had the crowd chanting his name.
“I was just laughing,” said Ullmark, when asked what he was thinking in the moment. “Sometimes you wonder, how did that happen? What happened, in the prior, how did I get here and sort of just have to smile and laugh about it because you saved it and then let it go and focus on the next one, because you don't want to make a brilliant save like that and end up having a bad goal right after."
Ottawa took a 4-1 lead in the first on goals by Shane Pinto, Tyler Kleven, Ridley Greig and Batherson, putting an end to Jeremy Swayman’s night, who faced 15 shots. Casey Mittlestadt had the only Bruins' (30-29-8) goal in the first period.
“We just weren’t good enough in most of the facets in the first period,” said interim head coach Joe Sacco. “Our execution wasn’t quite there; we weren’t sharp, our passing was off, and because of that, they got us back on our heels and then took the play to us in the first period.”
David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the second to get the Bruins back in it and Joonas Korpisalo, who allowed one goal on 15 shots, gave them a chance to get back into the game.
“That first period, I don’t know what happened,” said Korpisalo. “It was pretty one-sided. But then we gathered again and fought back and had really good chances there.
"Kudos to us for fighting back.”
Senators head coach Travis Green reflected on his team’s journey to get to this point. Back in November there were lots of questions about the team’s ability and resiliency.
“I think those lessons then are helping us now,” he said. “You’ve got to play a game, if you win or lose you’ve got to reset and we’ve got to do it again.
"It’s like playoff hockey right now for a lot of teams in the league and the ones that can stay consistent to finding their own personal team’s game are going to be the ones that get in.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2025.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press