Why The Ottawa Senators Won The Montreal Series, And What They Can Learn From It Going Forward

Why The Ottawa Senators Won The Montreal Series, And What They Can Learn From It Going Forward by Jared Crozier

When it began, it was simply a hashtag, all started by Senators winger Erik Condra.

It is tough for people outside of the “Senators bubble” to fully comprehend.

#peskysens

It was used to describe how the injury ravaged club was managing to keep its head above water and still maintain a playoff spot against all odds.

Over the course of the season, it became a phenomenon, a way of life. It signified everything that the team stood for: never giving up, hanging around, doing the little things right and scraping by. Without Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson, the Senators were not going to run and gun with anyone on most nights, unless they happened to catch lightning in a bottle.

They were going to have to rely on good team defense, great goaltending and timely scoring. Which is exactly what they did. The perfect description for their on-ice play for the better part of the regular season, Pesky.

It became a rallying point for not only the players, but was also embraced by the fans. Is #peskysens silly? Perhaps, but it worked. It was part of what was really a remarkable performance by a team that was missing 4 of its 5 key players for large parts of the season.

I am not sure how much of a role the wave of #peskysens played in the success of the team, if any at all.

What I do know is that the Senators players embraced it to the point they had t-shirts made and were proud to sport them.

Erik Condra and Marc Methot sporting the #peskysens t-shirts (Photo via Econdra22 Instagram, Erik Condra)

That’s good enough for me. If they can ride #peskysens right to the Stanley Cup, then who cares what people outside of the Senators bubble say about it.

I will leave the last word to the Captain: