Why it's different this time for the Ottawa Senators

Senators winger Drake Batherson during practice in Ottawa on Friday. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

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A couple of weeks before the Ottawa Senators set off on their Cinderella run to the post-season in January, Tim Stutzle ditched the razor.

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Near the bottom of the National Hockey League‘s Eastern Conference standings at the time, every game going forward would have a do-or-die, post-season feel to it. Why not also look the part?

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“We’ve been in the mood for a long time now,” Stutzle said Friday ahead of jetting off to Raleigh, N.C., for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. “I feel like we’ve been playing playoff hockey since the 40-game mark, just kind of had to win every game.”

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By April, Stutzle had grown a modest beard and somewhere along the way, captain Brady Tkachuk had joined him.

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After a 21-6-4 heater catapulted the Senators into the first wild-card spot in the conference, and their second consecutive playoff berth, it was time for the pair to start all over again.

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When Ottawa’s Round 1 matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes gets underway at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday, it will undoubtedly be a smoother transition into playoff-mode for the team, as opposed to last year.

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The Senators’ young core, then yet to experience an NHL post-season, essentially went in blind into the Battle of Ontario, and Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs was all too predictable.

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“I remember just wanting to get out there and get that first shift out of the way,” forward Dylan Cozens recalled. “I would say it was mostly excitement, but obviously some nerves, too.”

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Said Stutzle: “Just kind of coming into that series, we were all maybe a little bit too hyped up, took too many penalties.”

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The Sens were severely undisciplined in the second period of Game 1, gifting the Leafs four power plays. Toronto converted twice and the game was pretty much over at the 30-minute mark.

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Centre Shane Pinto admitted last season’s team was overwhelmed by the moment.

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“I think this year we’ll have a better approach,” he said. “We’ll obviously be excited, I think it’s going to be a lot of emotions (Saturday), but I think we’re going to do a better job keeping that in check and not letting the game kind of get away from us.”

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Said Cozens: “I think we won’t make that mistake again this year. Having those six games last year will help us a ton.”

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Indeed, there are lessons to be learned from the Senators’ 4-2 series loss to the Maple Leafs last spring, but they are simply not that same team anymore.

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Head coach Travis Green has turned Ottawa into one of the best defensive squads in the NHL, right up there with the Hurricanes. You couldn’t say that 365 days ago.

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“I think that’s been Greener’s message all year, kind of: ‘Win 2-1,’ ” Pinto said. “It fits our game pretty well I think. I think we’re a checking team, that’s our identity. It fits our game. I don’t think we’re going to be too startled when we have a checking match the first couple games.”

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The Senators are also heavier now. Their forecheck is one of the most relentless in the NHL, their cycle is improved, and they win a ton of board battles. And, of course, they still love to throw bodies around, recording the most regular-season hits among 2026 playoff teams.