Takeaways: Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk devasted after Battle of Ontario loss

Vancouver Sun

02-05-2025

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Brady Tkachuk fought back tears and struggled to find words.
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The Ottawa Senators' captain wanted badly to force Game 7 in the Battle of Ontario, but the club came up short with a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the series on Thursday night.
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As Tkachuk left the ice after shaking hands with the Leafs, the fans chanted his name and hoped for better days ahead.
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'It's devastating,' Tkachuk said, his voice cracking. 'I believed. It's a tough pill to swallow right now.'
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Nobody can accuse the Senators of having any quit in them, they tried in every way, shape and form to send this series the distance.
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'I'm proud of this team and every single guy,' Tkachuk said. 'Everybody, even those who weren't playing, staff, trainers, everybody in this organization. It takes will, and it takes guts.
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'We didn't get the job done. We're going to take these lessons and be better because of it. It's tough to realize right now because everything happens for a reason, but we'll be better because of it.'
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Tkachuk struggled to find words.
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'The character we have in this room, I knew we had it all along, but to battle back in this game, it's tough,' Tkachuk said.
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This was the first trip to the playoffs for the club's core, including Thomas Chabot, Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson, Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto, and Tkachuk.
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Chabot was thrilled to get the opportunity to gain some experience.
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'As much as it stings right now, and it sucks, it's a hell of a year by everybody,' Chabot said. 'Right from training camp, every single guy in this room bought into the plan and the process.
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'We never stopped. We kept going all season. There were some tough times, but we found ways to get out of them and get stronger as a team. No one ever doubted us in this room.'
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What was important for the Senators was their improvement as the series went on. They could have thrown in the towel at 3-0, but they refused to go quietly into the night.
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'I'm much like our players, I'm disappointed,' said coach Travis Green. 'This was much like the whole series; it was a good game that could have gone either way. It could have gone either way.
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'They're going to take away a lot: What playoff hockey is like, how razor-thin the margin is. Every shift and every battle matters, and attention to detail. But I'm proud of our group. They played hard. That's about as close of a series that you're going to see.