True, but most deep playoff runs from any position these days are on the back of very good goalies, or good goalies playing at their peak for a stretch.
Detroit doesn’t have that currently.
I’m not blaming all the recent shitty play on Howard though, O and D have both been poor lately.
Last day of the season and everyone plays today. Still a lot to be decided.
Go Sens, Go!
For some reason I can only get the Flyers and Sens game in French.
Where are you? In Canada it’s on TSN5 in Ottawa and Sportsnet elsewhere.
21-3-3. Ottawa goes 21-3-3 down the stretch to make the playoffs. I’d have to count the number of times that I thought that this team was dead and buried. When Hammond came in for us I was thinking of our lottery chances. And now the playoffs.
At the Sens board that I post to, there’s a thread from Oct 17th called “Mark Stone is a thief” that’s still going. He put an exclamation point on that title in the third today. What a player. We need to play him with Bobby Ryan so we can get a RySto line going. 
I couldn’t watch teh game on TSN in Toronto. I have the Centre Ice package but it wasn’t shown for some reason, but I did find the RDS feed. After the first period I found the Sportsnet channel the game was on. It wasn’t one of the main Sportsnet channels because I would have seen it there. It was on Sportsnet One or something which is a ways away in the guide.
Congratulations to the Sens. There is nothing better than going into the playoffs with a hot goalie.
Speaking of which, which is the bigger story, Hammond or Dubnyk?
We’ll I have no problem with the Sens making it. Better them then Pittsburgh or Boston, which ever one misses.
I would like to have the third spot back tonight though.
Deal. I want Montreal over Tampa anyway. I think that the Habs are a better matchup for the Sens. It’s a tough series no matter who it is.
I much prefer Tampa for my Wings. Price is that last thing I want to see.(I’m not exactly looking forward to Stamkos and Co. either obviously.)
We did it! We’re in the play-offs! I didn’t think we would, but we did it. AND Fleury got his tenth shut-out this season. I don’t see us winning the Cup, but not even making the post-season would’ve royally, ROYALLY sucked.
And the best part? Both the Flyers and the Bruins didn’t. HA!
You have to love Jamie Benn. The guy has been on a mission for the last 3 months.
He has improved his goal and point totals every season he has been in the league. Say what you want, but IMO Benn played a huge role for Canada in Sochi. Following up a Gold Medal with an Art Ross Trophy means I am putting money on the Stars to win the Cup next year.
Rangers set their all-time franchise record for best season and Lundqvist won 30 games for the 9th time in his career (every year except the lockout-shortened season). Penguins in the playoffs.
The Senators were 14 points out of the playoffs on February 10. They are the only team in the history of the NHL to be 14 points out of the playoffs on any day of the regular season and still make the playoffs. Wow.
I would not want to bet my house on them beating the Habs in the first round… but I wouldn’t bet my house against it.
And Fleury got 10 shut outs this season. (Twice he did it back to back) That’s a new franchise record. Unfortunately, Kris Letang isn’t going to be back until next season.
It was a crazy Saturday with last games making all kinds of critical determinations. The Sens were being outshot by huge margins and could easily have lost against the Flyers. Meanwhile Pittsburgh won and Boston almost did, taking the game into OT. The Sens could easily have been out of the playoffs despite all the heroics.
Also the hapless, useless Leafs were (inexplicably) leading at various points against Montreal, and a regular-time win there would have knocked the Habs out of second place in the conference standings and changed the matchups.
As it happened, Ottawa and Montreal both won and there we are – #2 division leader matched up against wildcard #1. This should be a fun series. Both teams depend heavily on terrific goaltending.
How often in recent years have we had a playoff series with two Canadian teams, let along two such series this year (Vancouver-Calgary being the other). The good-news/bad-news is that two Canadian teams are guaranteed to go on to the second round, and two are guaranteed not to! 
So is my math correct: if Detroit had lost then Ottawa would have been matched against Tampa instead of the Habs, right?
If everything else had stayed the same except for Detroit losing against Carolina (which is well out of the playoffs so their win wouldn’t have changed anything), then yes, Detroit and Ottawa would have switched places, and Ottawa would be #3 in their division and playing Tampa Bay. In fact immediately after Saturday’s afternoon game, Ottawa was listed in exactly that position and Detroit had moved down to the first wildcard. But Detroit still had one game in hand and when they won it later that evening, they switched places again.
I think that with a loss, the Red Wings would have fallen to the second wildcard and would be playing the Rangers.
I will started a playoff thread.
You’re right on that point. Ottawa would have been matched against Tampa Bay as said, but with Pittsburgh’s win Detroit and Pittsburgh would have had equal points and the tie-breaking rules would have knocked Detroit down to the second wildcard.