1997–98 Ottawa Senators season

1997–98 Ottawa Senators
Division	5th Northeast Division
Conference	8th Eastern Conference
1997–98 record	34–33–15
Home record	18–16–7
Road record	16–17–8
Goals for	193
Goals against	200
Team information
General manager	Pierre Gauthier
Coach	Jacques Martin
Captain	Randy Cunneyworth
Alternate captains	Daniel Alfredsson Alexei Yashin
Arena	Corel Centre
Average attendance	16,686 per game (667,454 total)
Team leaders
Goals	Alexei Yashin (33)
Assists	Alexei Yashin (39)
Points	Alexei Yashin (72)
Penalty minutes	Denny Lambert (250)
Plus/minus	Wade Redden (+17)
Wins	Damian Rhodes (19)
Goals against average	Ron Tugnutt (2.25)

The 1997–98 Ottawa Senators season would see the Senators face the challenge of improving on their very successful 1996–97 season, when they made the playoffs for the first time in team history. The 1997–98 season would be even more successful, as Ottawa finished over .500 for the first time in club history, qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year, and won their first playoff series in modern club history. The Senators defeated the #1 seed New Jersey Devils in six games, before falling to the Washington Capitals in five games in the second round.

Regular season

Alexei Yashin would lead the club offensively, with 72 points (33 goals-39 assists) in 82 games. Damian Rhodes and Ron Tugnutt would once again do a very good job in the Senators net, helping set a club record for fewest goals allowed with 200.

The Alexandre Daigle era came to an end midway through the season, as the Senators traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Vaclav Prospal and Pat Falloon.

Final standings

Northeast Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	40	24	18	228	188	98
Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	221	194	91
Buffalo Sabres	82	36	29	17	211	187	89
Montreal Canadiens	82	37	32	13	235	208	87
Ottawa Senators	82	34	33	15	193	200	83
Carolina Hurricanes	82	33	41	8	200	219	74

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

Regular season schedule

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 1, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	0–0–1
2	L	October 3, 1997	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	0–1–1
3	W	October 4, 1997	3–2	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	1–1–1
4	W	October 7, 1997	1–0	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	2–1–1
5	T	October 10, 1997	1–1 OT	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	2–1–2
6	L	October 12, 1997	4–7	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	2–2–2
7	W	October 15, 1997	5–1	New York Rangers (1997–98)	3–2–2
8	W	October 17, 1997	4–2	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	4–2–2
9	W	October 19, 1997	3–1	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	5–2–2
10	W	October 22, 1997	6–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	6–2–2
11	T	October 23, 1997	2–2 OT	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	6–2–3
12	L	October 25, 1997	2–4	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	6–3–3
13	W	October 29, 1997	5–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	7–3–3
14	W	October 30, 1997	5–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	8–3–3
15	L	November 2, 1997	1–3	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	8–4–3
16	W	November 6, 1997	4–1	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	9–4–3
17	L	November 8, 1997	3–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	9–5–3
18	L	November 9, 1997	1–4	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	9–6–3
19	L	November 11, 1997	0–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	9–7–3
20	L	November 13, 1997	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	9–8–3
21	T	November 15, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	9–8–4
22	L	November 17, 1997	2–4	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	9–9–4
23	L	November 20, 1997	0–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	9–10–4
24	L	November 22, 1997	0–1	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	9–11–4
25	L	November 26, 1997	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	9–12–4
26	W	November 27, 1997	3–1	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	10–12–4
27	L	November 29, 1997	2–3	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	10–13–4
28	W	December 2, 1997	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	11–13–4
29	W	December 4, 1997	3–2	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	12–13–4
30	W	December 6, 1997	3–0	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	13–13–4
31	L	December 11, 1997	1–2	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	13–14–4
32	L	December 13, 1997	1–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	13–15–4
33	W	December 15, 1997	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	14–15–4
34	L	December 16, 1997	1–2	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	14–16–4
35	W	December 18, 1997	3–2	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	15–16–4
36	L	December 20, 1997	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	15–17–4
37	W	December 22, 1997	4–1	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	16–17–4
38	W	December 23, 1997	4–3 OT	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	17–17–4
39	W	December 27, 1997	3–0	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	18–17–4
40	L	December 31, 1997	0–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	18–18–4
41	T	January 1, 1998	0–0 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	18–18–5
42	L	January 3, 1998	2–7	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	18–19–5
43	L	January 5, 1998	1–4	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	18–20–5
44	W	January 7, 1998	2–0	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	19–20–5
45	T	January 10, 1998	3–3 OT	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	19–20–6
46	T	January 11, 1998	4–4 OT	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	19–20–7
47	L	January 13, 1998	0–4	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	19–21–7
48	T	January 20, 1998	0–0 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	19–21–8
49	L	January 22, 1998	2–4	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	19–22–8
50	W	January 24, 1998	3–2	New York Islanders (1997–98)	20–22–8
51	W	January 26, 1998	2–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	21–22–8
52	L	January 27, 1998	1–6	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	21–23–8
53	T	January 29, 1998	2–2 OT	New York Rangers (1997–98)	21–23–9
54	W	January 31, 1998	4–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	22–23–9
55	L	February 2, 1998	0–1	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	22–24–9
56	L	February 4, 1998	0–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	22–25–9
57	W	February 5, 1998	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	23–25–9
58	T	February 7, 1998	2–2 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	23–25–10
59	L	February 25, 1998	2–5	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	23–26–10
60	L	February 28, 1998	4–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	23–27–10
61	L	March 1, 1998	1–2	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	23–28–10
62	W	March 5, 1998	4–2	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	24–28–10
63	W	March 7, 1998	2–1	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	25–28–10
64	W	March 11, 1998	5–3	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	26–28–10
65	W	March 14, 1998	4–0	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	27–28–10
66	L	March 16, 1998	4–5	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	27–29–10
67	T	March 18, 1998	4–4 OT	New York Islanders (1997–98)	27–29–11
68	T	March 20, 1998	1–1 OT	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	27–29–12
69	L	March 22, 1998	2–5	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	27–30–12
70	W	March 25, 1998	3–2 OT	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	28–30–12
71	L	March 27, 1998	1–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	28–31–12
72	T	March 29, 1998	1–1 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	28–31–13
73	T	April 2, 1998	3–3 OT	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	28–31–14
74	W	April 3, 1998	3–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	29–31–14
75	W	April 5, 1998	1–0	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	30–31–14
76	L	April 7, 1998	2–4	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	30–32–14
77	W	April 9, 1998	4–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	31–32–14
78	T	April 11, 1998	4–4 OT	Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	31–32–15
79	W	April 13, 1998	3–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	32–32–15
80	W	April 14, 1998	3–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	33–32–15
81	L	April 16, 1998	0–2	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	33–33–15
82	W	April 19, 1998	2–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1997–98)	34–33–15

Playoffs

The Ottawa Senators ended the 1997–98 regular season as the Eastern Conference's eighth seed. Daniel Alfredsson, who missed 27 games in the regular season due to injuries, would lead the team with nine points (seven goals and two assists) in the playoffs and the club won its first round matchup, an upset win over the New Jersey Devils

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (1) New Jersey Devils

On paper, the series was a big mismatch as the Devils had finished 24 points ahead in the standings. One American newspaper covering the playoffs did not even preview the series, expecting a easy win for the Devils. The Devils were characterized as arrogant, although the Devils and the Senators had split their season series. Randy McKay, asked which player on the Senators he respected, said "To be honest, I'd have to see their (roster) list."

The series opened in New Jersey. In the first game, the Senators got a 1–0 lead and held onto it until 3:24 was left in the third period, when Doug Gilmour scored to tie the game. After the goal, the Devils got several penalties in a row, including some in overtime. Although the Senators went 0–6 on the power play, they managed to win the game on an overtime winner from Bruce Gardiner at 5:58. In the second game, the Devils won the game on the offence of Gilmour who assisted on the first goal and scored the second, game-winning goal and an empty netter to tie the series.

The series now moved to Ottawa for the third and fourth games. In the third game, Damian Rhodes played outstanding and Alexei Yashin scored the winner, 2:47 into overtime on the power play. According to the Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur: "It's Rhodes, that's the bottom line. He has been tremendous. We're getting the puck to him, we're getting rebounds, but he closes the door every time." Coach Lemaire refused to appear for the post-game press conference. The Senators won the fourth game on the strength of three goals by Daniel Alfredsson to win the game 4–3. The Senators had led 4–1 but late goals by Scott Stevens and Gilmour, with 69 seconds left, made it close.

The series now returned to New Jersey, with the Devils on the brink of elimination. In the fifth game, Brodeur stopped 22 shots of 23, and assisted on a short-handed goal and the Devils won 3–1. Gilmour scored the game-winner and the Devils staved off elimination.

In the sixth and deciding game, Janne Laukkanen scored the winner, giving the Senators the lead and Igor Kravchuk scored an empty net goal to complete the upset. After the game, Scott Stevens commented "The bottom line is that they're an average team that played great. And we're an above average team that played poorly." The headlines from other newspapers labelled the playoff win a 'titanic upset' and 'sensational upset'.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 22	Ottawa	2 – 1 (OT)	New Jersey	1 – 0
2	April 24	Ottawa	1 – 3	New Jersey	1 – 1
3	April 26	New Jersey	1 – 2 (OT)	Ottawa	2 – 1
4	April 28	New Jersey	3 – 4	Ottawa	3 – 1
5	April 30	Ottawa	1 – 3	New Jersey	3 – 2
6	May 2	New Jersey	1 – 3	Ottawa	4 – 2

Ottawa wins series 4–2.

Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (4) Washington Capitals

The Senators could not capitalize on their first-round win and the Capitals took the series in five games.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	May 7	Ottawa	2 – 4	Washington	0 – 1
2	May 9	Ottawa	1 – 6	Washington	0 – 2
3	May 11	Washington	3 – 4	Ottawa	1 – 2
4	May 13	Washington	2 – 0	Ottawa	1 – 3
5	May 15	Ottawa	0 – 3	Washington	1 – 4

Washington wins series 4–1

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Yashin, AlexeiAlexei Yashin	C	82	33	39	72	24	6	5	0	6
McEachern, ShawnShawn McEachern	RW	81	24	24	48	42	1	8	2	4
Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson	RW	55	17	28	45	18	7	7	0	7
Kravchuk, IgorIgor Kravchuk	D	81	8	27	35	8	-19	3	1	1
Dackell, AndreasAndreas Dackell	RW	82	15	18	33	24	-11	3	2	2
Arvedson, MagnusMagnus Arvedson	LW	61	11	15	26	36	2	0	1	0
Zholtok, SergeiSergei Zholtok	C	78	10	13	23	16	-7	7	0	1
Redden, WadeWade Redden	D	80	8	14	22	27	17	3	0	2
Laukkanen, JanneJanne Laukkanen	D	60	4	17	21	64	-15	2	0	2
Lambert, DennyDenny Lambert	LW	72	9	10	19	250	4	0	0	1
Van Allen, ShaunShaun Van Allen	C	80	4	15	19	48	4	0	0	0
Gardiner, BruceBruce Gardiner	RW	55	7	11	18	50	2	0	0	0
Bonk, RadekRadek Bonk	C	65	7	9	16	16	-13	1	0	0
Daigle, AlexandreAlexandre Daigle	C	38	7	9	16	8	-7	4	0	2
Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips	D	72	5	11	16	38	2	2	0	2
York, JasonJason York	D	73	3	13	16	62	8	0	0	0
Cunneyworth, RandyRandy Cunneyworth	LW	71	2	11	13	63	-14	1	0	0
Pitlick, LanceLance Pitlick	D	69	2	7	9	50	8	0	0	0
Murray, ChrisChris Murray	RW	46	5	3	8	96	1	0	0	2
Prospal, VaclavVaclav Prospal	C	15	1	6	7	4	-1	0	0	0
Falloon, PatPat Falloon	RW	28	3	3	6	8	-11	2	0	0
Neckar, StanStan Neckar	D	60	2	2	4	31	-14	0	0	0
Crowe, PhilPhil Crowe	LW	9	3	0	3	24	3	0	0	1
Armstrong, DerekDerek Armstrong	C	9	2	0	2	9	1	0	0	1
Hill, SeanSean Hill	D	13	1	1	2	6	-3	0	0	0
Gustafsson, PerPer Gustafsson	D	9	0	1	1	6	3	0	0	0
Hossa, MarianMarian Hossa	RW	7	0	1	1	0	-1	0	0	0
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	G	50	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bicanek, RadimRadim Bicanek	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ciernik, IvanIvan Ciernik	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	G	42	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vial, DennisDennis Vial	D/LW	19	0	0	0	45	0	0	0	0
Zent, JasonJason Zent	LW	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	2743	50	19	19	7	107	2.34	5	1148	1041	.907
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	2236	42	15	14	8	84	2.25	3	882	798	.905
Team:	4979	82	34	33	15	191	2.30	8	2030	1839	.906

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Alfredsson, DanielDaniel Alfredsson	RW	11	7	2	9	20	-4	2	1	1
Yashin, AlexeiAlexei Yashin	C	11	5	3	8	8	-6	3	0	2
Kravchuk, IgorIgor Kravchuk	D	11	2	3	5	4		0	0	0
Laukkanen, JanneJanne Laukkanen	D	11	2	2	4	8	-3	1	0	1
Gardiner, BruceBruce Gardiner	RW	11	1	3	4	2	-2	0	0	1
McEachern, ShawnShawn McEachern	RW	11	0	4	4	8	-6	0	0	0
Dackell, AndreasAndreas Dackell	RW	11	1	1	2	2	-4	1	0	0
York, JasonJason York	D	7	1	1	2	7	-2	1	0	0
Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips	D	11	0	2	2	2	-2	0	0	0
Redden, WadeWade Redden	D	9	0	2	2	2	-5	0	0	0
Zholtok, SergeiSergei Zholtok	C	11	0	2	2	0	-1	0	0	0
Murray, ChrisChris Murray	RW	11	1	0	1	8	-2	0	0	0
Arvedson, MagnusMagnus Arvedson	LW	11	0	1	1	6	-6	0	0	0
Cunneyworth, RandyRandy Cunneyworth	LW	6	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Pitlick, LanceLance Pitlick	D	11	0	1	1	17	-3	0	0	0
Van Allen, ShaunShaun Van Allen	C	11	0	1	1	10	-3	0	0	0
Bonk, RadekRadek Bonk	C	5	0	0	0	2	-3	0	0	0
Falloon, PatPat Falloon	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gustafsson, PerPer Gustafsson	D	1	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Lambert, DennyDenny Lambert	LW	11	0	0	0	19	2	0	0	0
Neckar, StanStan Neckar	D	9	0	0	0	2	-4	0	0	0
Prospal, VaclavVaclav Prospal	C	6	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	G	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Rhodes, DamianDamian Rhodes	590	10	5	5	21	2.14	0	236	215	.911
Tugnutt, RonRon Tugnutt	74	2	0	1	6	4.86	0	25	19	.760
Team:	664	11	5	6	27	2.44	0	261	234	.897

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

• Molson Cup - Alexei Yashin

Transactions

Trades

August 25, 1997	To St. Louis Blues Steve Duchesne	To Ottawa Senators Igor Kravchuk
November 18, 1997	To Carolina Hurricanes Sean Hill	To Ottawa Senators Chris Murray
January 17, 1998	To Philadelphia Flyers Alexandre Daigle	To Ottawa Senators Vaclav Prospal Pat Falloon Dallas' second-round pick 1998 Entry Draft (Chris Bala)
March 9, 1998	To Edmonton Oilers Frank Musil	To Ottawa Senators Scott Ferguson
March 17, 1998	To Toronto Maple Leafs Ottawa's eighth-round pick 1998 Entry Draft (Dwight Wolfe)	To Ottawa Senators Per Gustafsson

Waivers

September 28, 1997

To New York Islanders Tom Chorske

Source: (2008) Ottawa Senators 2008–09 Media Guide. Ottawa Senators, 188. 

Free agents

Player Former team Marc Labelle Dallas Stars Clayton Beddoes Boston Bruins Derek Armstrong New York Islanders Roster 1997-98 Ottawa Senators Goaltenders 1 Damian Rhodes  31 Ron Tugnutt  Defensemen 2 Lance Pitlick  3 Per Gustafsson  4 Chris Phillips  5 Sean Hill  6 Wade Redden  21 Dennis Vial  23 Radim Bicanek  24 Stan Neckar  27 Janne Laukkanen  29 Igor Kravchuk  33 Jason York  Wingers 7 Randy Cunneyworth  - C 10 Andreas Dackell  11 Daniel Alfredsson  - A 12 Pat Falloon  15 Shawn McEachern  17 Chris Murray  18 Marian Hossa  20 Magnus Arvedson  25 Bruce Gardiner  26 Phil Crowe  28 Denny Lambert  38 Jason Zent  48 Ivan Ciernik  Centres 9 Alexandre Daigle  13 Vaclav Prospal  14 Radek Bonk  16 Sergei Zholtok  19 Alexei Yashin  - A 22 Shaun Van Allen  42 Derek Armstrong  GM: Pierre Gauthier Coach: Jacques Martin Sources: NHL.com - Player Search. NHL. Retrieved on 2009-03-09. Draft picks Ottawa's draft picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League) 1 12 Marian Hossa  Slovakia Dukla Trencin (Slovakia) 3 58 Jani Hurme  Finland TPS (Finland) 3 66 Josh Langfeld  United States Lincoln Stars (USHL) 5 119 Magnus Arvedson  Sweden Farjestads BK Karlstad (Sweden) 6 146 Jeffrey Sullivan  Canada Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) 7 173 Robin Bacul  Czech Republic Slava Praha (Czech.) 8 203 Nick Gillis  United States Cushing Academy (US HS) 9 229 Karel Rachunek  Czech Republic Zlin ZPS (Czech.) Farm teams Worcester IceCats (American Hockey League) Raleigh IceCaps (East Coast Hockey League) See also 1997–98 NHL season References Garrioch, Bruce (1998), "Ottawa Senators 1992–93 to Date", Total Hockey Ottawa Senators staff (2006). Ottawa Senators Media Guide 2007. Ottawa Senators.  The Internet Hockey Database National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007