1997–98 Ottawa Senators season

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===
===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
 	C 	82	33	39	72 	24 	6 	5 	0 	6
 	RW 	81	24	24	48 	42 	1 	8 	2 	4
 	RW 	55	17	28	45 	18 	7 	7 	0 	7
 	D 	81	8 	27	35 	8 	-19	3 	1 	1
 	RW 	82	15	18	33 	24 	-11	3 	2 	2
 	LW 	61	11	15	26 	36 	2 	0 	1 	0
 	C 	78	10	13	23 	16 	-7 	7 	0 	1
 	D 	80	8 	14	22 	27 	17 	3 	0 	2
 	D 	60	4 	17	21 	64 	-15	2 	0 	2
 	LW 	72	9 	10	19 	250	4 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	80	4 	15	19 	48 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	55	7 	11	18 	50 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	65	7 	9 	16 	16 	-13	1 	0 	0
 	C 	38	7 	9 	16 	8 	-7 	4 	0 	2
 	D 	72	5 	11	16 	38 	2 	2 	0 	2
 	D 	73	3 	13	16 	62 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	71	2 	11	13 	63 	-14	1 	0 	0
 	D 	69	2 	7 	9 	50 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	46	5 	3 	8 	96 	1 	0 	0 	2
 	C 	15	1 	6 	7 	4 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	28	3 	3 	6 	8 	-11	2 	0 	0
 	D 	60	2 	2 	4 	31 	-14	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	9 	3 	0 	3 	24 	3 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	9 	2 	0 	2 	9 	1 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	13	1 	1 	2 	6 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0 	1 	1 	6 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	7 	0 	1 	1 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	50	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	42	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D/LW	19	0 	0 	0 	45 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0 	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T 	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	2743	50	19	19	7 	107	2.34	5 	1148	1041	.907
 	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
 	RW 	11	7	2	9 	20 	-4 	2 	1 	1
 	C 	11	5	3	8 	8 	-6 	3 	0 	2
 	D 	11	2	3	5 	4 	 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	2	2	4 	8 	-3 	1 	0 	1
 	RW 	11	1	3	4 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	11	0	4	4 	8 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	11	1	1	2 	2 	-4 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	1	1	2 	7 	-2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	11	0	2	2 	2 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	2	2 	2 	-5 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	11	0	2	2 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	11	1	0	1 	8 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	0	1	1 	6 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	6 	0	1	1 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	0	1	1 	17 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	11	0	1	1 	10 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	0	0	0 	2 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0	0	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	11	0	0	0 	19 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	0	0 	2 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	6 	0	0	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	2 	0	0	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	590	10	5	5	21	2.14	0 	236	215	.911
 	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 BluesSteve Duchesne 	To Ottawa SenatorsIgor Kravchuk
November 18, 1997	To Carolina HurricanesSean Hill 	To Ottawa SenatorsChris Murray
January 17, 1998 	To Philadelphia FlyersAlexandre Daigle 	To Ottawa SenatorsVaclav ProspalPat Falloon Dallas' second-round pick 1998 Entry Draft (Chris Bala)
March 9, 1998 	To Edmonton OilersFrank Musil 	To Ottawa SenatorsScott Ferguson
March 17, 1998 	To Toronto Maple LeafsOttawa's eighth-round pick 1998 Entry Draft (Dwight Wolfe)	To Ottawa SenatorsPer Gustafsson
===Waivers===
September 28, 1997	To New York IslandersTom Chorske
Source: 
===Free agents===
{| cellspacing="10"
| valign="top" |
Player 	Former team
Marc Labelle 	Dallas Stars
Clayton Beddoes	Boston Bruins
Derek Armstrong	New York Islanders
==Roster==
						
Goaltenders
* 
*		
Defensemen
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*		
Wingers
* - C
* 
* - A
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*		
Centres
* 
* 
* 
* 
* - A
* 
* 
*GM: Pierre Gauthier
*Coach: Jacques Martin
Sources: 
* 
==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 	 	Dukla Trencin (Slovakia)
3 	58 	Jani Hurme 	 	TPS (Finland)
3 	66 	Josh Langfeld 	 	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
5 	119	Magnus Arvedson 	 	Farjestads BK Karlstad (Sweden)
6 	146	Jeffrey Sullivan	 	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
7 	173	Robin Bacul 	 	Slava Praha (Czech.)
8 	203	Nick Gillis 	 	Cushing Academy (US HS)
9 	229	Karel Rachunek 	 	Zlin ZPS (Czech.)
==Farm teams==
* Worcester IceCats (American Hockey League)
* Raleigh IceCaps (East Coast Hockey League)
==See also==
*1997–98 NHL season
==References==
* 
* 
*The Internet Hockey Database
*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
Category:Ottawa Senators
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Ottawa Senators season, 1997–98
Ottawa Senators season, 1997–98