Home US SportsNHL Are Senators And Bruins Headed Toward A Huge Rivalry With Major Implications?

Are Senators And Bruins Headed Toward A Huge Rivalry With Major Implications?

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Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark

Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Picture this: it’s the tail end of the NHL’s current regular season, and two teams in particular are fighting it out for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. And those two teams have been linked by one major trade and a burgeoning rivalry that will likely only heat up as the season unfolds.

That’s a kind of early-weather forecast regarding the unfolding situation between the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators. While there’s plenty of time left for other teams to get into the playoff picture in the East, there’s a clear scenario that could prove to create delicious drama between the two teams.

Here’s what we’re getting at: right now, the Bruins are in third place in the Atlantic Division, just four standings points ahead of the Senators who currently occupy the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. (Between them are the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are currently two points ahead of the Sens. And the kicker, in this instance, is that the Senators have two games in hand on Boston, while Tampa Bay has an even greater five games in hand.

In other words, by the time the schedule evens out, you could be seeing Tampa in third place, and the Sens and Bruins fighting it out for the final wild-card berth. And if it does come down to that faceoff, how wild would it be to see former Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark potentially sticking it to his former Bs team and pushing Ottawa into a playoff spot for the first time since 2016-17 while eliminating the Bruins from playoff contention?

Yes, it’s possible the showdown between the Bruins and Senators doesn’t materialize. There’s a chance Metropolitan Division teams – Columbus, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia primarily – wind up taking both wild-card spots for themselves. And maybe the Lightning regress a bit and it’s the Bolts who the Sens have to fend off for a wild-card spot. But, it’s tantalizing fun to envision the Senators and Bruins doing battle to see who gets into the post-season and who doesn’t.

And while Ullmark has battled to stay healthy this season, you’d better believe the opportunity to push the Bs out of a playoff spot would be incredibly motivating for him. That motivation is what’s probably in the back of Ullmark’s mind at the moment, but it obviously would enter into the front of his mind if and when Ottawa does find themselves in a major fight to become a playoff team this year.

The Senators have beaten Boston in their first showdown this season — a 3-2 overtime victory on Nov. 9 — but that leaves three more games between the two teams before the season ends. Now imagine how much of a high-stakes battle each of those next three games against each other are going to be.

If Ottawa can continue staying close to a playoff berth, they’d have every opportunity to catch the Bruins in the standings and put distance between them with three wins head-to-head. Conversely, Boston also could emerge as the team to beat if they can pull off two or three wins against the Sens.

All-in-all, this is a circumstance that, while not cemented in stone, could easily take place as the schedule shakes out. The two teams may not have envisioned fighting it out with each other when they made the Ullmark trade last summer, but the hockey gods sometimes have a great sense for the dramatic, and in this case, there would be huge ramifications if the two teams are in a position to end the other’s season in abject disappointment.

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It’s not a situation that’s worth pouring oodles of time and attention into at the moment, but it’s definitely one that could quickly become a reality. And if it does, fans of both teams – as well as hockey fans in general – would be on the edge of their seats as it unfolds.

Situations like this potential one are what help create long-lasting rivalries, and the Senators and Bruins now have to do their utmost to humor the hockey gods and set the stage for the incredible drama to come. And maybe, just maybe, we’re about to have a new blood rivalry to enjoy for the foreseeable future.

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