2005–06 Ottawa Senators season

2005–06 Ottawa Senators season was the 13th season of the Ottawa Senators. After one of their franchise-best regular seasons, finishing with 113 points, the Senators made it to the Eastern Conference Semi-final, in which the Buffalo Sabres eliminated Ottawa in five games. 
==Off-season==
Changes occurred to the Senators roster before the season. First, Ottawa acquired the playoff-experienced goaltender Dominik Hasek for his Stanley Cup experience. Second, a blockbuster trade involved Marian Hossa and Greg DeVries being sent to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley. The trade occurred on the day that Hossa had signed a new contract. The value of Hossa's contract was beyond what GM Muckler felt that Hossa was worth and so he was dealt away. Marian had lead the Sens in scoring.
==Regular season==
Heatley, together with Alfredsson and Spezza, formed one of the league's top offensive lines, dubbed the "CASH line" by fans in a contest held by the Ottawa Citizen. The name is made from the initials of Captain Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley. Cash Line won out over finalists 'Dash Line' and 'Dazzle Line,' which Spezza reputedly despised and wanted to veto. Another nickname the line has picked up is the 'Pizza Line', and is the nickname used by the Citizen's rival paper, the Ottawa Sun.The name refers to a promotion instituted by a pizza company chain to provide a free slice of pizza to all attending when the Senators scored 5 goals. The line increased the number of times the Senators scored 5 per game and the pizza company had to change its promotion to 6 goals. However, during the press conference to introduce the teams for the 2007 Stanley Cup Final, Dany Heatley went on record to say he likes the 'Cash line' name. 
The Senators team sent nine players to the 2006 Winter Olympics as part of the NHL's commitment. Daniel Alfredsson, Zdeno Chara, Martin Havlat, Dany Heatley, Andrej Meszaros, Wade Redden, Christoph Schubert and Anton Volchenkov all played for their country's national teams, while Jason Spezza was a substitute for Canada. The experience was not good for the Senators: Dominik Hasek was having a good season but the team lost him to a hamstring injury he suffered while playing for the Czech national ice hockey team. He would not play again for the Senators.
In addition to leading the NHL with most goals for (312), the Senators also led the NHL in shorthanded goals (25), scoring points (840), and shots on goal (2,811).http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/OTT/2006.html
===Highlights===
The 'CASH' line made a dramatic and historic debut, playing in the first game of the 2005–06 season on October 5, 2005, against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. In the pre-season, right winger Brandon Bochenski had been playing on the line as he had played with Spezza in the AHL during the lock-out. But with five minutes to go, with the Senators trailing, then Senators' coach Bryan Murray replaced Bochenski with Alfredsson and Alfredsson scored a game-tying goal with 62 seconds left. Heatley and Alfredsson would then go on to score the first shootout goals in NHL history to win the game that night. 
Heatley became the first Ottawa Senator in franchise history to reach 100 points on April 13, 2006, recording two assists during a 5–4 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers and five days later became the first Senator to score 50 goals in a season. Meanwhile, defenceman Wade Redden became the first Senator to win the NHL Plus/Minus Award, tied with New York Ranger Michal Rozsival, with a +35.
===Season standings===
===Game log===
====October====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1 	October 5 	Ottawa 	3 – 2	Toronto Maple Leafs	SO	Hasek 	19,452 	1–0–0 	2
2 	October 8 	Buffalo Sabres 	0 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,661 	2–0–0 	4
3 	October 10	Toronto Maple Leafs	5 – 6	Ottawa 	SO	Hasek 	18,680 	3–0–0 	6
4 	October 11	Ottawa 	4 – 2	Montreal Canadiens 	 	Emery 	21,273 	4–0–0 	8
5 	October 15	Boston Bruins 	1 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,379 	5–0–0 	10
6 	October 21	Ottawa 	4 – 1	Tampa Bay Lightning	 	Hasek 	20,494 	6–0–0 	12
7 	October 24	Ottawa 	2 – 3	Carolina Hurricanes	 	Hasek 	12,116 	6–1–0 	12
8 	October 27	Montreal Canadiens 	3 – 4	Ottawa 	OT	Emery 	18,840 	7–1–0 	14
9 	October 29	Ottawa 	8 – 0	Toronto Maple Leafs	 	Hasek 	19,480 	8–1–0 	16
10	October 30	Philadelphia Flyers	5 – 3	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,335 	8–2–0 	16
====November====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
11	November 2 	Ottawa 	10 – 4	Buffalo Sabres 	 	Emery 	13,905 	9–2–0 	18
12	November 3 	Tampa Bay Lightning	4 – 2 	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	18,604 	10–2–0	20
13	November 5 	New York Islanders 	6 – 0 	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,776 	11–2–0	22
14	November 10	Ottawa 	5 – 2 	Boston Bruins 	 	Hasek 	17,159 	12–2–0	24
15	November 12	Buffalo Sabres 	1 – 6 	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,414 	13–2–0	26
16	November 15	Carolina Hurricanes	2 – 1 	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,544 	13–3–0	26
17	November 17	Florida Panthers 	1 – 4 	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	18,650 	14–3–0	28
18	November 19	New Jersey Devils 	4 – 5 	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,534 	15–3–0	30
19	November 22	Ottawa 	5 – 3 	Carolina Hurricanes	 	Hasek 	13,427 	16–3–0	32
20	November 25	Ottawa 	6 – 2 	New York Islanders 	 	Hasek 	15,564 	17–3–0	35
21	November 26	Boston Bruins 	2 – 4 	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,691 	18–3–0	36
22	November 29	Montreal Canadiens 	0 – 4 	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,858 	19–3–0	38
====December====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
23	December 1 	Ottawa 	0 – 3	Boston Bruins 	 	Hasek 	15,639 	19–4–0	38
24	December 2 	Los Angeles Kings 	1 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,671 	20–4–0	40
25	December 5 	Ottawa 	6 – 3	Florida Panthers 	 	Hasek 	10,883 	21–4–0	42
26	December 9 	Ottawa 	2 – 3	Vancouver Canucks 	SO	Hasek 	18,630 	21–4–1	44
27	December 10	Ottawa 	1 – 2	Calgary Flames 	OT	Emery 	19,289 	21–4–2	44
28	December 12	Ottawa 	6 – 2	Colorado Avalanche 	 	Hasek 	18,007 	22–4–2	46
29	December 15	Dallas Stars 	2 – 0	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,598 	22–5–2	46
30	December 17	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 – 8	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,935 	23–5–2	48
31	December 20	Ottawa 	3 – 4	Montreal Canadiens 	SO	Hasek 	21,273 	23–5–3	49
32	December 22	Ottawa 	3 – 4	Philadelphia Flyers	 	Hasek 	19,817 	23–6–3	49
33	December 23	Ottawa 	4 – 2	New York Islanders 	 	Emery 	11,425 	24–6–3	51
34	December 26	New York Rangers 	2 – 6	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,806 	25–6–3	53
35	December 28	Carolina Hurricanes	2 – 6	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	20,050 	26–6–3	55
36	December 30	New York Islanders 	3 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	20,055 	27–6–3	57
====January====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
37	January 2 	Ottawa 	3 – 8	Atlanta Thrashers 	 	Emery 	12,536 	27–7–3 	57
38	January 4 	Ottawa 	3 – 1	Washington Capitals	 	Hasek 	10,047 	28–7–3 	59
39	January 5 	Ottawa 	2 – 4	Boston Bruins 	 	Hasek 	15,481 	28–8–3 	59
40	January 7 	Ottawa 	1 – 4	Montreal Canadiens 	 	Hasek 	21,273 	28–9–3 	59
41	January 10	Phoenix Coyotes 	2 – 7	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,773 	29–9–3 	61
42	January 12	San Jose Sharks 	2 – 0	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,538 	29–10–3	61
43	January 14	Ottawa 	5 – 3	Edmonton Oilers 	 	Hasek 	16,839 	30–10–3	63
44	January 16	Ottawa 	6 – 1	Minnesota Wild 	 	Hasek 	18,568 	31–10–3	65
45	January 19	Anaheim Ducks 	4 – 3	Ottawa 	SO	Hasek 	19,387 	31–10–4	66
46	January 21	Toronto Maple Leafs	0 – 7	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	20,093 	32–10–4	68
47	January 23	Toronto Maple Leafs	3 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,865 	33–10–4	70
48	January 26	Montreal Canadiens 	0 – 3	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,908 	34–10–4	72
49	January 30	Boston Bruins 	5 – 0	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,551 	34–11–4	72
====February====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
50	February 1 	Ottawa 	3 – 5	New Jersey Devils 	 	Hasek 	10,142 	34–12–4	72
51	February 2 	Ottawa 	7 – 2	Pittsburgh Penguins	 	Hasek 	14,714 	35–12–4	74
52	February 4 	Ottawa 	1 – 2	Buffalo Sabres 	SO	Hasek 	17,451 	35–12–5	75
53	February 6 	Pittsburgh Penguins	2 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,877 	36–12–5	77
54	February 8 	Ottawa 	1 – 5	New York Rangers 	 	Hasek 	18,200 	36–13–5	77
55	February 9 	Atlanta Thrashers 	2 – 1	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,604 	36–14–5	77
56	February 11	Philadelphia Flyers	2 – 3	Ottawa 	 	Hasek 	19,834 	37–14–5	79
====March====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
57	March 1 	Ottawa 	4 – 3	Pittsburgh Penguins	 	Emery 	14,026 	38–14–5	81
58	March 2 	Washington Capitals	1 – 7	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,346 	39–14–5	83
59	March 4 	Ottawa 	4 – 2	Toronto Maple Leafs	 	Emery 	19,486 	40–14–5	85
60	March 6 	Ottawa 	4 – 0	Tampa Bay Lightning	 	Emery 	19,855 	41–14–5	87
61	March 8 	Ottawa 	2 – 6	Florida Panthers 	 	Emery 	15,196 	41–15–5	87
62	March 10	Ottawa 	3 – 1	Atlanta Thrashers 	 	Emery 	15,057 	42–15–5	89
63	March 12	Ottawa 	5 – 2	Washington Capitals	 	Emery 	15,740 	43–15–5	91
64	March 14	Tampa Bay Lightning	3 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,810 	44–15–5	93
65	March 16	Ottawa 	2 – 3	Boston Bruins 	SO	Emery 	15,066 	44–15–6	94
66	March 18	Buffalo Sabres 	2 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,947 	45–15–6	96
67	March 19	Ottawa 	4 – 0	New Jersey Devils 	 	Emery 	14,681 	46–15–6	98
68	March 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	2 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,360 	47–15–6	100
69	March 24	Ottawa 	3 – 1	Buffalo Sabres 	 	Emery 	18,690 	48–15–6	102
70	March 25	Ottawa 	3 – 6	Philadelphia Flyers	 	Emery 	19,869 	48–16–6	103
71	March 28	New Jersey Devils 	3 – 2	Ottawa 	SO	Emery 	18,668 	48–16–7	103
72	March 30	New York Rangers 	1 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	18,710 	49–16–7	105
====April====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
73	April 1 	Washington Capitals	1 – 0	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,403 	49–17–7	105
74	April 3 	Atlanta Thrashers 	4 – 6	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	18,742 	50–17–7	107
75	April 5 	Ottawa 	4 – 5	Buffalo Sabres 	OT	Emery 	17,622 	50–17–8	108
76	April 6 	Montreal Canadiens 	5 – 2	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,929 	50–18–8	108
77	April 8 	Buffalo Sabres 	6 – 2	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,575 	50–19–8	108
78	April 10	Ottawa 	2 – 3	Montreal Canadiens 	 	Emery 	21,273 	50–20–8	108
79	April 11	Boston Bruins 	3 – 4	Ottawa 	OT	Morrison	18,279 	51–20–8	110
80	April 13	Florida Panthers 	5 – 4	Ottawa 	OT	Morrison	19,173 	51–20–9	111
81	April 15	Ottawa 	1 – 5	Toronto Maple Leafs	 	Emery 	19,410 	51–21–9	111
82	April 18	Ottawa 	5 – 1	New York Rangers 	 	Emery 	18,200 	52–21–9	113
*Green background indicates win.
*Red background indicates regulation loss.
*White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.
==Playoffs==
The Ottawa Senators ended the 2005–06 regular season as the Eastern Conference's first seed. 
Ray Emery took over the starting goaltender duties; he became the first rookie netminder since Philadelphia's Brian Boucher in 2000 to win a playoff series when the Senators defeated Tampa Bay in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, four games to one. The Senators were then defeated by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, four games to one. 
After the playoff loss, Eugene Melnyk (the team's owner) comforted fans in an open letter, by saying that their team would not only win the Stanley Cup in the future, but, once they had it, they would, he boasted, "hoard" it year after year.
===Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning===
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 21	Tampa Bay	1 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,660 	1 – 0
2	April 23	Tampa Bay	4 – 3	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,745 	1 – 1
3	April 25	Ottawa 	8 – 4	Tampa Bay	 	Emery 	20,815 	2 – 1
4	April 27	Ottawa 	5 – 2	Tampa Bay	 	Emery 	20,682 	3 – 1
5	April 29	Tampa Bay	3 – 2	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	20,004 	4 – 1
Ottawa wins series 4–1.
===Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (4) Buffalo Sabres===
#	Date 	Visitor	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 5 	Buffalo	7 – 6	Ottawa 	OT	Emery 	19,544 	0 – 1
2	May 8 	Buffalo	2 – 1	Ottawa 	 	Emery 	19,816 	0 – 2
3	May 10	Ottawa 	2 – 3	Buffalo	OT	Emery 	18,690 	0 – 3
4	May 11	Ottawa 	2 – 1	Buffalo	 	Emery 	18,690 	1 – 3
5	May 13	Buffalo	3 – 2	Ottawa 	OT	Emery 	20,024 	1 – 4
Buffalo wins series 4–1.
== Player stats ==
===Regular season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	LW 	82	50	53	103	86 	29 	23 	2 	7
 	RW 	77	43	60	103	50 	29 	16 	5 	8
 	C 	68	19	71	90 	33 	23 	7 	0 	5
 	LW 	82	20	30	50 	40 	16 	4 	4 	2
 	D 	65	10	40	50 	63 	35 	8 	0 	4
 	C 	81	17	31	48 	46 	8 	4 	0 	5
 	C 	68	22	22	44 	64 	23 	2 	4 	3
 	D 	71	16	27	43 	135	17 	10 	1 	3
 	D 	82	10	29	39 	61 	34 	5 	0 	2
 	D 	77	5 	30	35 	59 	29 	3 	0 	0
 	C 	82	21	12	33 	44 	17 	1 	6 	4
 	RW 	79	16	17	33 	204	9 	8 	0 	0
 	C/LW	82	10	20	30 	76 	21 	1 	0 	2
 	RW 	58	20	9 	29 	22 	7 	5 	1 	4
 	RW 	76	5 	16	21 	50 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	69	1 	18	19 	90 	19 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	75	4 	13	17 	53 	21 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	18	9 	7 	16 	4 	6 	2 	1 	1
 	RW 	20	6 	7 	13 	14 	7 	2 	0 	0
 	D 	56	4 	6 	10 	48 	4 	0 	1 	0
 	RW 	60	2 	3 	5 	141	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	19	0 	4 	4 	4 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	4 	1 	1 	2 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	4 	1 	0 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	39	0 	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	4 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	43	0 	0 	0 	16 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0 	0 	0 	31 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	11	0 	0 	0 	4 	-2 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T/OT	GA 	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	2584	43	28	10	4 	90 	2.09	5 	1202	1112	.925
 	2168	39	23	11	4 	102	2.82	3 	1045	943 	.902
 	207 	4 	1 	0 	1 	12 	3.48	0 	96 	84 	.875
Team: 	4959	82	52	21	9 	204	2.47	8 	2343	2139	.913
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	10	5	9	14 	2 	-1 	3 	0 	1
 	RW 	10	7	6	13 	4 	0 	3 	0 	1
 	LW 	10	3	9	12 	11 	1 	3 	0 	1
 	RW 	10	2	8	10 	4 	2 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	2	8	10 	10 	-2 	2 	0 	1
 	LW 	10	2	5	7 	14 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	10	3	3	6 	2 	3 	1 	0 	0
 	C 	10	2	2	4 	12 	1 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	10	1	3	4 	23 	0 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	0	4	4 	8 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	8 	2	1	3 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	9 	2	0	2 	6 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	10	2	0	2 	4 	-1 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	8 	0	2	2 	12 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	10	1	0	1 	10 	-3 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	10	1	0	1 	18 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	10	1	0	1 	14 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10	0	1	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0	1	1 	4 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	C/LW	10	0	0	0 	2 	-4 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO	SA 	SV 	SV%
 	604	10	5	5	29	2.88	0 	289	260	.900
Team: 	604	10	5	5	29	2.88	0 	289	260	.900
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/OT = Ties/overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Awards and records==
* Molson Cup - Daniel Alfredsson
* NHL Plus/Minus Award - Wade Redden
* Second NHL All-Star Team - Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, Zdeno Chara
==Transactions==
====Trades====
July 30, 2005 	To Minnesota Wild Todd White 	To Ottawa Senators Minnesota's fourth-round pick 2005 Draft (Cody Bass)
August 23, 2005]	To Atlanta Thrashers Marian Hossa Greg de Vries 	To Ottawa Senators Dany Heatley
October 5, 2005 	To Florida Panthers future considerations (Ottawa's sixth-round pick in 2007 Draft)	To Ottawa Senators Filip Novak
March 9, 2006 	To Chicago Blackhawks Brandon Bochenski Ottawa's second-round pick in 2006 Draft 	To Ottawa Senators Tyler Arnason
====Received from waivers====
Player 	Former Team
G Mike Morrison	Edmonton Oilers
==Roster==
						
Goaltenders
* 
* 
*		
Defensemen
* 
* - A
* 
* 
* - A
* 
* 
* 
* 
*	
Wingers
* 
* 
* 
* - C
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*		
Centres
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
*GM: John Muckler
*Coach: Bryan Murray	
Sources: 
* 
==Draft picks==
Ottawa's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 	9 	Brian Lee (D) 	 	Ottawa Senators 	Moorhead High School (USHS, MN)
3 	70 	Vitali Anikienko (D) 	 	Ottawa Senators 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia)
4 	95 	Cody Bass (C) 	 	Ottawa Senators (from Colorado Avalanche)	Mississauga IceDogs (OHL)
4 	98 	Ilya Zubov (C) 	 	Ottawa Senators (from St. Louis Blues) 	Chelyabinsk (Russia)
4 	115	Janne Kolehmainen (LW)	 	Ottawa Senators 	SaiPa (SM-liiga)
5 	136	Tomas Kudelka (D) 	 	Ottawa Senators 	Zlin Jr. (Czech Jr.)
6 	186	Dmitri Megalinsky 	 	Ottawa Senators 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia)
7 	204	Colin Greening 	 	Ottawa Senators 	Upper Canada College (CCL)
==Farm teams==
* Binghamton Senators (American Hockey League)
* Charlotte Checkers (East Coast Hockey League)
==See also==
*2005–06 NHL Season
==References==
==External links==
*Official website of the Ottawa Senators
Category:Ottawa Senators
Category:Ottawa Senators seasons
Ottawa Senators season
Ottawa Senators season