Schedule and 2005-06 Results
Regular Season Records: Ottawa 52-21-9=113pts, Tampa Bay 43-33-6=92pts
Game 1 on Friday, 21 April: Tampa Bay loses at Ottawa, 4-goals-1
Game 2 on Sunday, 23 April: Tampa Bay wins at Ottawa, 4-goals-3
Game 3 on Tuesday, 25 April: Ottawa wins at Tampa Bay, 8-goals-4
Game 4 on Thursday, 27 April: Ottawa wins at Tampa Bay, 5-goals-2
Game 5 on Saturday, 29 April: Tampa Bay loses at Ottawa, 3-goals-2

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The Ottawa Senators hosted and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-goals-2 to win best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 957, 4-games-1. The series victory improves the Ottawa Senators' best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 5-8, while the Tampa Bay Lightning best-of-7 NHL playoff series record falls to 5-3. Ottawa thus ousts the defending NHL champions from the 2006 NHL playoffs. The win order for the Ottawa Senators in series 957 was WLWWW. Series 957 thus becomes the fourth NHL Preliminary series, the 28th NHL series, and the 62nd MLB/NBA/NHL series to follow this win order. Ironically, the last NHL Preliminary round playoff series to follow this win order was best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 854, in which the Tampa Bay Lightning (just vanquished by Ottawa) emerged victorious en route to the 2004 NHL championship.

After Game 4: The Ottawa Senators visited and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-goals-2 to take a best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 957 lead of 3-games-1. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 3-games-1, the Ottawa Senators have a series record of 3-0; when trailing 3-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series mark of 0-1.

After Game 3: With best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 957 having made the shift to Tampa Bay, the Ottawa Senators proceeded to "snowman" their host Lightning for a 2-games-1 series 957 lead (i.e., the Senators scored 8 goals vs. Tampa). The eight goals by Ottawa were the most by a road team in the NHL playoffs since series 856 Game 6, in which the Carolina Hurricanes visited and defeated the Montreal Canadiens 8-goals-2 in the 2002 NHL Quarterfinals. When leading a best-of-7 NHL playoff series 2-games-1, the Ottawa Senators have a 4-1 series record; when trailing 2-games-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a 2-1 series record.

After Game 2: Avenging their Game 1 loss, the defending NHL champion Tampa Bay Lightning visited and defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-goals-3 to tie best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 957 at 1-game-all. When tied 1-game-all in a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, the Ottawa Senators have a series record of 4-4, while the Tampa Bay Lightning have a series record of 3-1 with a three-series winning streak.

After Game 1: The Ottawa Senators hosted and defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-goals-1 to take a 1-game-nil lead in best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series 957. The Ottawa Senators have a best-of-7 NHL playoff series record of 2-3 when leading 1-game-nil. The Tampa Bay Lightning have a best-of-7 NHL playoff series record of 2-2 when trailing 1-game-nil.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2005-06 regular season, Ottawa finished 21 points ahead of Tampa Bay. From 1939 through the 2005 MLB Finals, when NHL teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by 21 regular-season points, they have posted an 8-2 (.800) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 series 957 is the eighth best-of-7 playoff series for Tampa Bay, and the lucky 13th for Ottawa. In best-of-7 playoff series, Tampa Bay has a 5-2 series record, a 2-1 Prelim-round series record, and a 3-4 Game 1 record, while Ottawa has a 4-8 series record, a 3-5 Prelim-round record, and a 5-7 Game 1 record. Series 957 is the first best-of-7 meeting between Tampa Bay and Ottawa.