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 the year over .500 for the first time in club history, as they made the playoffs for the 2nd straight year, and won their first ever playoff series, defeating the #1 seed New Jersey Devils in 6 games, before falling to the Washington Capitals in 5 games in the 2nd round.
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.
In the playoffs, Daniel Alfredsson, who missed 27 games in the regular season due to injuries, would lead the team with 9 points (7 goals-2 assists) as Ottawa made it to the 2nd round for the first time in team history.

Contents

Season standings

Game log

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

Playoffs

Player stats

Regular Season

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

Playoffs

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

Draft picks

See also

References

Season 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

Game log

October

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
1	October 1	Ottawa Senators	2-2	Montreal Canadiens	0-0-1	1
2	October 3	Ottawa Senators	3-5	Philadelphia Flyers	0-1-1	1
3	October 4	Carolina Hurricanes	2-3	Ottawa Senators	1-1-1	3
4	October 7	Ottawa Senators	1-0	San Jose Sharks	2-1-1	5
5	October 10	Ottawa Senators	1-1	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	2-1-2	6
6	October 12	Ottawa Senators	4-7	Los Angeles Kings	2-2-2	6
7	October 15	New York Rangers	1-5	Ottawa Senators	3-2-2	8
8	October 17	New Jersey Devils	2-4	Ottawa Senators	4-2-2	10
9	October 19	Dallas Stars	1-3	Ottawa Senators	5-2-2	12
10	October 22	Ottawa Senators	6-2	Toronto Maple Leafs	6-2-2	14
11	October 23	Florida Panthers	2-2	Ottawa Senators	6-2-3	15
12	October 25	Montreal Canadiens	4-2	Ottawa Senators	6-3-3	15
13	October 29	Ottawa Senators	5-2	Philadelphia Flyers	7-3-3	17
14	October 30	Ottawa Senators	5-2	Florida Panthers	8-3-3	19

November

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
15	November 2	Boston Bruins	3-1	Ottawa Senators	8-4-3	19
16	November 6	Phoenix Coyotes	1-4	Ottawa Senators	9-4-3	21
17	November 8	Philadelphia Flyers	4-3	Ottawa Senators	9-5-3	21
18	November 9	Ottawa Senators	1-4	Carolina Hurricanes	9-6-3	21
19	November 11	Ottawa Senators	0-1	Philadelphia Flyers	9-7-3	21
20	November 13	Detroit Red Wings	4-2	Ottawa Senators	9-8-3	21
21	November 15	Ottawa Senators	3-3	Boston Bruins	9-8-4	22
22	November 17	Boston Bruins	4-2	Ottawa Senators	9-9-4	22
23	November 20	Pittsburgh Penguins	2-0	Ottawa Senators	9-10-4	22
24	November 22	Edmonton Oilers	1-0	Ottawa Senators	9-11-4	22
25	November 26	Ottawa Senators	1-4	Detroit Red Wings	9-12-4	22
26	November 27	Washington Capitals	1-3	Ottawa Senators	10-12-4	24
27	November 29	Chicago Blackhawks	3-2	Ottawa Senators	10-13-4	24

December

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
28	December 2	Ottawa Senators	4-2	New York Islanders	11-13-4	26
29	December 4	Los Angeles Kings	2-3	Ottawa Senators	12-13-4	28
30	December 6	Buffalo Sabres	0-3	Ottawa Senators	13-13-4	30
31	December 11	St. Louis Blues	2-1	Ottawa Senators	13-14-4	30
32	December 13	Tampa Bay Lightning	3-1	Ottawa Senators	13-15-4	30
33	December 15	Ottawa Senators	3-1	St. Louis Blues	14-15-4	32
34	December 16	Ottawa Senators	1-2	Carolina Hurricanes	14-16-4	32
35	December 18	Carolina Hurricanes	2-3	Ottawa Senators	15-16-4	34
36	December 20	Ottawa Senators	1-4	Montreal Canadiens	15-17-4	34
37	December 22	Ottawa Senators	4-1	New York Islanders	16-17-4	36
38	December 23	Montreal Canadiens	3-4	Ottawa Senators	17-17-4	38
39	December 27	Ottawa Senators	3-0	Washington Capitals	18-17-4	40
40	December 31	Ottawa Senators	0-3	Buffalo Sabres	18-18-4	40

January

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
41	January 1	Ottawa Senators	0-0	Boston Bruins	18-18-5	41
42	January 3	Philadelphia Flyers	7-2	Ottawa Senators	18-19-5	41
43	January 5	Ottawa Senators	1-4	Carolina Hurricanes	18-20-5	41
44	January 7	Ottawa Senators	2-0	Dallas Stars	19-20-5	43
45	January 10	Ottawa Senators	3-3	Colorado Avalanche	19-20-6	44
46	January 11	Ottawa Senators	4-4	Phoenix Coyotes	19-20-7	45
47	January 13	Ottawa Senators	0-4	Washington Capitals	19-21-7	45
48	January 20	Ottawa Senators	0-0	Pittsburgh Penguins	19-21-8	46
49	January 22	Carolina Hurricanes	4-2	Ottawa Senators	19-22-8	46
50	January 24	New York Islanders	2-3	Ottawa Senators	20-22-8	48
51	January 26	Tampa Bay Lightning	1-2	Ottawa Senators	21-22-8	50
52	January 27	Ottawa Senators	1-6	Boston Bruins	21-23-8	50
53	January 29	New York Rangers	2-2	Ottawa Senators	21-23-9	51
54	January 31	Ottawa Senators	4-3	Montreal Canadiens	22-23-9	53

February

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
55	February 2	New Jersey Devils	1-0	Ottawa Senators	22-24-9	53
56	February 4	Ottawa Senators	0-2	New Jersey Devils	22-25-9	53
57	February 5	Toronto Maple Leafs	2-3	Ottawa Senators	23-25-9	55
58	February 7	Pittsburgh Penguins	2-2	Ottawa Senators	23-25-10	56
59	February 25	Ottawa Senators	2-5	Edmonton Oilers	23-26-10	56
60	February 28	Ottawa Senators	4-6	Vancouver Canucks	23-27-10	56

March

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
61	March 1	Ottawa Senators	1-2	Calgary Flames	23-28-10	56
62	March 5	Colorado Avalanche	2-4	Ottawa Senators	24-28-10	58
63	March 7	Calgary Flames	1-2	Ottawa Senators	25-28-10	60
64	March 11	Florida Panthers	3-5	Ottawa Senators	26-28-10	62
65	March 14	Washington Capitals	0-4	Ottawa Senators	27-28-10	64
66	March 16	Ottawa Senators	4-5	New York Rangers	27-29-10	64
67	March 18	New York Islanders	4-4	Ottawa Senators	27-29-11	65
68	March 20	Vancouver Canucks	1-1	Ottawa Senators	27-29-12	66
69	March 22	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	5-2	Ottawa Senators	27-30-12	66
70	March 25	Ottawa Senators	3-2	New York Rangers	28-30-12	68
71	March 27	Ottawa Senators	1-2	Chicago Blackhawks	28-31-12	68
72	March 29	Ottawa Senators	1-1	Pittsburgh Penguins	28-31-13	69

April

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'	'Pts'
73	April 2	San Jose Sharks	3-3	Ottawa Senators	28-31-14	70
74	April 3	Ottawa Senators	3-2	New Jersey Devils	29-31-14	72
75	April 5	Ottawa Senators	1-0	Buffalo Sabres	30-31-14	74
76	April 7	Boston Bruins	4-2	Ottawa Senators	30-32-14	74
77	April 9	Pittsburgh Penguins	1-4	Ottawa Senators	31-32-14	76
78	April 11	Buffalo Sabres	4-4	Ottawa Senators	31-32-15	77
79	April 13	Ottawa Senators	3-2	Tampa Bay Lightning	32-32-15	79
80	April 14	Ottawa Senators	3-2	Florida Panthers	33-32-15	81
81	April 16	Montreal Canadiens	2-0	Ottawa Senators	33-33-15	81
82	April 19	Ottawa Senators	2-1	Buffalo Sabres	34-33-15	83

Playoffs

The Ottawa Senators ended the 1997-98 regular season as the Eastern Conference's eighth seed.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: vs. (1) New Jersey Devils

Ottawa wins series 4-2

'#'	'Date'	'Visitor'	'Score'	'Home'	'Record'
1	April 22	Ottawa	2 - 1	New Jersey	1 - 0
2	April 24	Ottawa	1 - 3	New Jersey	1 - 1
3	April 26	New Jersey	1 - 2	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

Eastern Conference Semifinals: vs. (4) Washington Capitals

Washington wins series 4-1

'#'	'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

Player stats

Regular Season

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes''

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Alexei Yashin	82	33	39	72	24
Shawn McEachern	81	24	24	48	42
Daniel Alfredsson	55	17	28	45	18
Igor Kravchuk	81	8	27	35	8
Andreas Dackell	82	15	18	33	24

Goaltending

''Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average''

'Player'	'GP'	'TOI'	'W'	'L'	'T'	'GA'	'SO'	'Sv%'	'GAA'
Ron Tugnutt	42	2236	15	14	8	84	3	.905	2.25
Damian Rhodes	50	2743	19	19	7	107	5	.907	2.34

Playoffs

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes''

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Daniel Alfredsson	11	7	2	9	20
Alexei Yashin	11	5	3	8	8
Igor Kravchuk	11	2	3	5	4
Janne Laukkanen	11	2	2	4	8
Bruce Gardiner	11	1	3	4	2

Goaltending

''Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average''

'Player'	'GP'	'TOI'	'W'	'L'	'GA'	'SO'	'Sv%'	'GAA'
Damian Rhodes	10	589	5	5	21	0	.918	2.14
Ron Tugnutt	2	74	0	1	6	0	.760	4.86

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 Turku (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.)

See also

★ 19947-98 NHL Season

References

★ ''Total Hockey: "Ottawa Senators 1992-93 to Date" by Bruce Garrioch, 1998

★ Ottawa Senators Media Guide 2007

★ The Internet Hockey Database

★ National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007